Not Your Average Family
by ImAGiver
Summary: DEFINITE AU! 17 year-old Bryce Larkin is posing as the son of "couple" John Casey and Sarah Walker. What happens when he meets high school supergenius Chuck Bartowski? Unlikely friendships and family dysfunction ensue. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Title: Not Your Average Family…

Summary: DEFINITE AU! 17 year-old Bryce Larkin is posing as the son of "couple" John Casey and Sarah Walker. What happens when he meets high school supergenius Chuck Bartowski? Unlikely friendships and family dysfunction ensue.

A/N: I don't know why I'm writing this. Maybe because I feel like it and if I don't I will be very sad.

XxxxXXXXxxxX

Junior Agent Bryce Larkin, a 17-year-old boy with longish blackish locks and big bright eyes, had woken up and found himself wanting to dig his head back into the green and white pillows and never get up again. His ears twitched at the faint sounds of his partners, or should he say "parents", rising quietly from the other rooms of the seaside, Burbank, California abode, but his body was screaming at him to not follow suit.

Today was the day Bryce started his first in-field mission posing as a high-school student, while secretly scoping the campus for possible clues to a mind so powerful that it could contain all of the government's secrets. The whole thing sounded like a silly joke, and, of course, being the cynical kid he was, Bryce voiced his opinions of such a powerful mind the first time they handed him the assignment.

"Look, if you wanted to get me out of your hair, at least have the decency to give me a believable assignment." Bryce said to General Beckman, a tight mouthed authoritarian who always wore a rather austere look in her eyes.

"I assure you, we would never try to 'get you out of our hair.' Your skills are invaluable to this mission, Junior Agent Larkin, you should treat it with great care and deliberation."

He flicked the file containing the mission briefing of the file. "C'mon, you can't expect me to buy this 'computer in some kid's head' thing, do ya?"

"As ridiculous as it may sound, he or she does exist and if action is not taken soon, they could create a major threat to our country." Her eyes bore pointedly into his blue ones. Bryce sighed. The government always knew how to push a patriot's buttons. It was in his blood to want to protect and serve his country in anyway, even against dangers that seemed positively absurd in attack.

"Yes ma'am, I got it." He assented with an air of reluctance. Just the prospect of looking for some super genius with a brain so powerful it could contain so much information… Bryce crossed his arms. "I suppose I should keep my eyes out for a guy with the head the size of a melon then?"

General Beckman obviously didn't enjoy the jibe at the mission work, and therefore blatantly ignored it. "You'll be stationed in Burbank, California, the last known location of what we have labeled mission: Recover Intersect. Your move begins in 0-200 hours, any other questions you can ask your new "parents" Special Agents John Casey and Sarah Walker of NSA and CIA respectively. Is all that clear, Agent Larkin?"

Of course it was, even if it wasn't, which is why Bryce lay on his bed knuckling his eyes, hoping to remove the last grits of sleep and commence his first day on the job. He couldn't suppress the heavy groan when his digital alarm clock finally beeped into life. Sitting up, he grabbed the sleek black device and attempted to find the button that turned it off. Once he managed it, he surveyed his spacious, modernly decorated bedroom with an air of loneliness.

Time to get up…

XxxxXXXxxxX

Bryce stepped out of his room, dressed in a form-fitted navy polo and loose blue jeans, his hair still in pieces and damp from the hot shower he took moments before. He yawned as he made his way into the kitchen, finding Sarah and Casey, aka "Mom" and "Dad", already prepping for their first day as well.

Thirty-one-year-old Sarah Walker, dressed in a silky light pink robe that touched the floor, was carefully reading a hefty case report while absently tucking a loose blonde hair that fell from her pulled back bun. The agent was as pretty as she was lethal, and Bryce couldn't help but wonder if the talented operative found her job as a regular housewife as dull and tedious as he did.

Upon seeing the young man enter, Sarah beamed pleasantly at him and placed the report on the counter to brew the tired teenager a cup of coffee.

"Sleep okay last night?" Agent Walker questioned, amused, as Bryce dropped heavily onto a silver plated stool and laid his chin atop his open palm, blinking groggily. Weren't showers supposed to wake you up? Probably, but Bryce would never be a morning person, no matter how refreshing the water.

"Yeah, super," Bryce replied, gracing the rhetorical question with a sarcastic answer. "Just can't wait until I start to look old enough to stop being assigned to missions at high schools."

"Why? Can't handle the peer pressure?" Sarah enquired whilst removing two orange and white cups from the wood paneled cabinets.

"No, can't handle the Biology homework on top of the case reports I have to file each night." Bryce complained, nodding as he accepted the plain black coffee from the older blonde woman.

"Well, get used to it," A deep voice grumbled from behind him. Bryce swiveled his head and saw the large muscular form of NSA Agent John Casey expertly checking a case of weapons that had finally arrived the afternoon before. He continued checking the scopes on the guns as he spoke, "The agency still hasn't been able to pinpoint an exact location on the Intersect, so the chances of us 'running into him' anytime soon seem slim."

Bryce didn't know much about the seemingly formidable man, who was dressed in a tacky green polo for his new job at an electronics store called the BuyMore, but the one thing Bryce was aware of was that he liked people to keep their distance both physically and definitely emotionally. Larkin was sure that if Casey had a choice of being stuck with a crying baby for a few hours or a timed C4 bomb for three seconds, he'd hightail it to the explosives. Unless it was strictly business, Casey wanted nothing to do with it.

"Do you have everything? The bus will be here in a few minutes." Sarah reminded her younger subordinate, who was now looking around the summery kitchen for his school entrance papers. The eating and cooking area looked more like an office with the amount of papers and equipment strewn on the tables and counters. Bryce habitually combed a hand through his wavy locks, his now dry bangs falling in front of his forehead, as his blue eyes scanned the surfaces for the papers with the school's letterhead on them.

He zeroed in on the thick stack of blue, pink, and white papers before stuffing them into his plain Jansport backpack along with his other forms of identification. Bryce was already briefed on his new identity as Bryce Redford, the adopted son of Sarah and John Redford. They had to go for adopted since the agency wasn't sure anyone would buy that Bryce looked like either one of the two older agents.

"I think that's it," Bryce announced, slinging the hefty backpack filled with his papers, books, and identification over his shoulder. Casey gripped his forearm firmly but not tight before he could take a step in the direction of the entrance hall of the sizeable home.

"Not so fast there, Junior. You didn't get equipped with the tracking device or communications." Bryce inwardly cringed at the taunting tone in Casey's voice. As Casey began explaining how the small devices functioned, Bryce nodded, silently disliking the man for his higher-than-thou attitude whenever Larkin slipped up even a little bit. "There's no room for mistake, got it, Larkin?" Casey finished off with what seemed to be his brain-embedded catchphrase.

"Yessir," Bryce muttered out of obligation as he strapped the tracking device around his wrist and slipped the sleek razor-thin cell phone into his back pocket. "Is the tracking really necessary though?" Casey gave him a tight-lipped no nonsense look but Bryce cut him off before the man could come up with a lecture. "Alright, alright, I got it. I'll see you two later."

"Have a good day at school!" Sarah said sweetly while Casey sent him off with a grunt of acknowledgement. As Bryce made his way towards the entrance, he tried not to eavesdrop on the conversation Sarah and Casey sprung into the moment he left the kitchen. Sure it was probably about how working with such an inexperienced young agent might jeopardize the completion of such an important mission, but Bryce decided that if he could just prove to them that he was an asset and not a hindrance, he wouldn't have to deal with all the disrespect he got from the older operatives.

While Bryce tried to think about how to go around gaining their respect, he opened the door to a young man around the same age as him but a bit taller and wearing a plain brown t-shirt with the number "42" emblazoned on the front in bright green print. He held in his hands a clear Tupperware container with a blue snap-on lid filled with what looked to be brownies. In addition to the rather geeky shirt, the boy also wore a sheepish look and an apologetic frown at having surprised the unsuspecting Bryce.

"Oh, geez, I'm sorry!" he began, watching as Bryce sighed in relief that the boy in front of him wasn't an immediate threat. "I was just about to knock and then you came out, well, of course you know that part, it just happened. And now I'm rambling. Uh-Churck Bartowski, live next door." The dark-haired boy with a friendly face and infectious smile stuck out his hand after the quick spill of words.

Stifling the odd surge of adrenaline, Bryce returned the smile and accepted the handshake cordially. "Hey, I'm Bryce."

They stood awkwardly at the doorway for few seconds, both at a loss for words, yet Bryce couldn't help jumping slightly as Sarah seemed to solidify from thin air behind him.

"Who's your friend, Bryce?" Sarah asked as Bryce tried to catch his breath. Why was he being caught off guard so much this morning? _It's just a new mission, you're not used to these people, just get it together, Larkin, _Bryce mentally berated himself. Since Bryce was too busy doing his mental reprimand, Sarah took the opportunity to introduce herself. "I'm Mrs. Redford. But you can call me Sarah. You live closeby?" Did she even need to ask?

"Hi…" Chuck drawled, a weird dreamy look floating over his young features. He thought this woman was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen, smelt, and heard. Her blond hair and long lashes seemed to move in slow motion as she greeted him pleasantly. His glazed eyes floated over to Bryce, who had quirked his eyebrow and was now looking at Chuck with the utmost uncertainty. Chuck snapped his mouth shut and sobered up a bit. "Uh, yeah, I'm Chuck Brownie-I mean Bartowski. Brownies, here. These brownies are for you." Although Chuck tripped over his words consistenly, he did it in such an endearing way that one didn't seem to mind.

"Thank you," Sarah said, graciously accepting the container of warm treats.

"Yeah, um, my sister Ellie made them. I live with her and her husband Devon next door. She's a pretty good cook although medicine is more her specialty. They both work at the hospital downtown as doctors. If you ever get sick though, there's nothing better than having them next door to you." Chuck's joke fell a bit flat and the two "Redfords" just gave the young man bewildered looks.

Something big and yellow caught Bryce's eye. He watched as the bus, with the words Burbank High School etched in black capital letters on its side, zoomed past his house and around the corner. Shoot. "Was that the only bus to the school?" Bryce asked quickly.

"Hm?" Chuck turned his head just in time to see the bus driving down the street. "Oh yeah, that's the one to Burbank High School." When he turned back to see Bryce's frown, Chuck quickly put the two and two together. "Oh! That was your-? And I just-? God, sorry, I should've just dropped the brownies off and left, but I tend to ramble and- Look, how about I give you a ride?"

"No, don't worry about it, Cas-I mean, my dad, he's on his way out so I'll just get one from him." Bryce reasoned.

"It's really no problem, man, I go to Burbank, too. And I feel really guilty about stopping you from catching the bus. And I'm starting to run out of reasons why I want to give you a ride but I'm sure I could come up with some better ones on the way there." Chuck pleaded, eager to atone for his wrongdoings.

Sarah had been watching the boy with amusement the entire time while Bryce looked conflicted. "Honey, why don't you go? Like he said, it's not a problem."

Bryce looked at her, trying to sense if there was a message behind her words, but her eyes seemed sincere so he shrugged. "Guess I'm going with you." Sarah kissed him on the cheek goodbye and waved the two young men off as they made their way over to Chuck's house.

"Good Lord, man, how are you even related to that beauty?" Chuck asked as they made their way through the hedges that separated each others' house.

"Watch it, Chuck, that's my mother you're talk about," Bryce grinned, having caught on to Chuck's obvious attraction to Agent Walker. Chuck gave a sheepish smirk. "In all truth, though, I'm adopted. John and Sarah took me in when I was little and I've been calling them mom and dad ever since."

"Wow, adopted?" Bryce nodded. "I guess I'm not too far off from that. My mom died before I even knew her, and my dad left shortly after that. My sister and her husband pretty much raised me."

"That's pretty strange," Bryce remarked and meant it. He wondered how his sister had handled having to raise her younger brother instead of investing in some kids of her own.

"Yeah, you're tellin' me. Oh, there's Devon!" A lean, well-built man in crisp, blue scrubs was making his way down the driveway, his blonde highlights and large smile glimmering effectually in the early California sunlight.

"Hey, bro! That our new neighbor?" Devon asked Chuck, nodding a head at the wide-eyed young man standing next to him.

"Yeaah," Chuck began a tad guiltily. "Devon this is Bryce, Bryce, Devon. Anyways, I was wondering if it'd be all right if we could take him to the school with us. I was sort of talking his ear off when his bus got here and now he doesn't have a ride."

"Aw, Chuck, hasn't your sister warned you about your rambling?"

"Ha, yeah," Chuck cast an embarrassed glance to Bryce, who pretended he hadn't heard anything. "Still, can we get him there?"

"Can I bench twice my body weight?" Devon asked with a knowing smirk. "Of course, there's always plenty of room in the awesome-mobile. Come on in, Bryce."

"Thank you," Bryce answered, grateful. He opened the back passenger door to the blue Toyota Yaris, dropped his backpack to the other seat, and climbed in. Devon Whitcomb fiddled with the knobs on the radio to his favorite morning show. Finally, he started up the car and they were on their way out of the sunny Burbank neighborhood onto the main highway.

They listened to the man on the radio argue with a particularly stubborn caller all the way to the high school. It was a nice institute, Bryce observed from his view from the backseat, with a smooth green and cream paint job and a large arching parkway the lead to the silver-paneled entrance doors. Bryce let out a low whistle, trying to seem overly impressed by the structure.

"This is pretty nice," he commented, wide eyes taking in the swarms of uppity kids treading across the campus. "Way nicer than the schools back where I'm from."

"Yep, it's pretty great," Bryce heard Chuck say, although the words were far from convincing. The young agent immediately sensed his new neighbor had distaste for the school Bryce didn't know about, adding some fuel to Larkin's curiosity.

"Okay, champs, do great today." Devon's deep voice broke in, his perpetual smirk still securely in place. "Going to need a ride home too, Bryce?"

Bryce thought about it for a second. He actually wasn't sure. So many things had happened recently it was hard to keep up with little things like how he would come to and from the school. Chuck took his lack of reply as something entirely different and cut in rather hurriedly.

"We'll probably want to… Study at the house later so just pick us up around 4." He said, struggling for an excuse at first. Devon just nodded, wonderfully oblivious, and waved them out of the compact car. Once safely outside, the two students walked slowly toward the school's entry, a perfect time, Bryce thought, to express some "gratitude."

"You didn't have to do that. I could've worked out my own ride." Bryce reasoned, giving a half-hearted smile.

"No, no, man, don't mention it." Chuck shook his head, entering the school's main hallway, which was packed with even more teens of all shapes and sizes. "Look, it's your first day, I'll show you the ropes around here."

Bryce smiled gratefully. "Thanks, dude."

They walked through the heavy, propped open doors where there were already swarms of kids pushing and filing around the halls. First, Chuck had him take out his locker number so they could drop off some of Bryce's heavy books and check out his schedule. The duo soon discovered they were locker neighbors too as Bryce put in his locker combination along with Chuck.

"Okay, what about your schedule. Maybe we have some classes together." Chuck seemed hopeful but when he read Bryce's schedule his optimistic attitude seemed to shift slightly. "Looks like we only have biology together, fourth period. I guess that's okay."

The bell suddenly rang and the hustle of kids around them seemed to grow heavier. Chuck was tall enough to see and yell above most of the kids heads but Bryce didn't have that luxury with his own height. "Okay, I'll see you at lunch then!" After the swarming dwindled a bit, Bryce realized that Chuck had left his side and the junior agent was left to guess where his next class was.

Looking back and forth at the empty hallways, he reassured himself, _You can do this._ After strolling the hallway for about five minutes, he ran into a teacher with a frazzled look on her face.

"Sorry, miss, but could you help me find the-"

"Are you Bryce Larkin?" the curly blonde-haired woman asked.

Bryce's eyes widened. How did she know his real last name. "Yes…"

"Oh thank God, I was wondering where you were. We've already got the test set up and need you to be present for when we hang it out." The woman, who by his class schedule said was Mrs. Carpenter, lead him to the classroom.

Bryce was only partially sure he knew what she was talking about by the briefing he received last night with Casey and Sarah. Apparently, there would be tests given out at all the classes this week to analyze any students with the incredible aptitude to be the Intersect.

He followed Mrs. Carpenter into the classroom, feeling slightly nervous to be the center of attention as the teacher introduced him to the class.

"Hello, class, today we have a new student joining us. His name is Bryce Redford. I hope you all get a chance to give him a warm welcome. Bryce, why don't you take a seat?" She looked expectantly at him. The young man nodded in appreciation before taking a seat near the back next to a particularly pretty, slightly egg-heady girl with brown hair.

She turned enchanting brown eyes to him and sent him a flirtatious wink. "Hey, where you from?" she whispered as the teacher continued her lecturing.

"Wherever you want me to be, sweetie," Bryce replied with a flirtatiously, unable to control his player tendencies when in close proximity of pretty girls.

She giggled and Bryce caught the quick turn of the head of a beefy dude sitting in the other seat beside her. The jock and Bryce locked eyes for a few tense seconds before the girl whispered something that brought Bryce back to the present.

"My name's Jill." She said with a wide grin that made her flawless tan skin glow.

"Jill Roberts," Mrs. Carpenter interrupted from the front of the class. Jill turned, somewhat startled by the teacher's interference. "Something you like to share with the rest of the class? No? Okay, moving on, today we'll be watching a three hour long documentary this week."

The class erupted in a chorus of groans and heads hitting desks. This brought a smile to Mrs. Carpenter's face as she tried to console the students' inevitable dread.

"Now, now, it won't be so bad. And I will be requiring your full attention because a test will be administered on the last viewing on the documentary to see how much you can recall." The groans, at this point, turned into full blown protests.

"How come we weren't even told about this in the syllabus?" a nerdy kid, the overachieving type Bryce observed, cried in indignation.

"Don't worry, Ronald. It doesn't hold any weight towards your final GPA, but it still counts towards some recruiting affairs later on." The teacher had foreseen some of these questions and was able to answer with rehearsed ease. This lowered the overall crossness in the room, at which point, Mrs. Carpenter thought it safe to continue. "Okay, let's get started. Jody, do you mind turning off the light for me."

Once the room was immersed in total darkness, the documentary was played and Bryce tried to keep his eyes open for the most part. Frankly, it didn't really matter if he stayed awake or not. He had already taken the test twice at the academy and failed miserably. No, the stressful position of becoming the Intersect was in some other poor sucker's hands…

XxxxXXXxxxX

A/N: More chapters coming soon. Please review.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay, just wanna get this out there: This is not a Chuck/Sarah story. The main character is Bryce. He is 17. As is Chuck. I'm not going to make Sarah some sort of pedo (though I do agree she makes quite the MILF, haha). On with the story. Here's a longer chapter; hope it clears some things up!

Disclaimer: No own-y!

XxxxXXXxxxX

"I'm telling you, I think there's some serious _1984 _drama going on in this school," Chuck said with animated hand gestures and his colorful array of facial expressions. He lowered his voice as Bryce and he passed two teachers in the hallways of the school. "I mean, why else would I be forced to watch a documentary in each and every one of my classes today. Methinks brainwashing…" He shifted his eyes from side to side, as if checking for spies.

But the only spy present was right in front of chuck, and Bryce had to admit, his new, nerdy friend wasn't far off from the truth. The videos they had been playing in class were encrypted with images that were transferred to the students' brains. They held messages inside of them that only the true Intersect would be able to decipher subconsciously. But brainwashing was likely too primitive a term to be used by the CIA.

"Maybe they're trying to make the school seem more technologically advanced by using a lot of media for teaching." Wow, Bryce really had to start making some cooler friends because Chuck's nerdisms were already seeping into his speech.

–Not that Bryce minded all that much. In all honesty, the junior agent found Chuck mildly amusing and a generally nice guy to hang out with. Granted, the guy stuttered and hit Bryce in the face when explaining his favorite scenes from Star Trek and ran away when hot girls were in a twenty foot radius of them. But despite all _that_, Chuck was a genuinely fun guy to be around.

Well, maybe Bryce spoke too soon, seeing as Chuck wasn't listening to a word he said. Instead, the taller boy was gazing wide-eyed at the brunette girl in Bryce's Lit class, Jill Roberts. With no time to run into a janitor's closet, Chuck was immobile, speechless, like a deer caught in the headlights.

Jill didn't seem to notice that though as she breezed by, her arm snugly wrapped around the jock Bryce had also seen in the Lit class. She did cast a sidelong glance Bryce's way that didn't go unnoticed by her large and athletic boyfriend.

"H-hey, J-Jill." Chuck stuttered out, several seconds after said female turned the corner to leave.

"You know her?" Bryce asked, as if it wasn't obvious after watching Chuck's entirely pathetic display.

"Huh?" Chuck snapped out of his love-crazed reverie, remembering Bryce's existence. "Oh! Oh yeah, psh, Jill and I go waay back." He was trying to seem casual but Bryce was having a hard time buying it.

"Is that so? How did you guys meet?" Bryce knew he was being cruel, trying to catch Chuck in his lie, but it was too much fun to pass up an infamous Chuck fidget moment.

Chuck continued walking towards the front doors of the school, tugging on his shirt as if it were too hot in the building. "Let's see. Um, I'd say about first grade. I gave her some of my clay and then we just hit it off."

"Is that so…" Bryce replied, sounding unconvinced. Chuck's face fell, realizing Bryce was just pulling him around.

"Okay, no, truth is, she doesn't even know my name. When I gave her my clay in the first grade, she thought it was from Zach Weathers, whose currently captain of the football team and dating the love of my life." Chuck let out a heavy sigh as he opened the doors and walked into the sunny Burbank afternoon. "I swear some guys have all the luck."

Bryce frowned, sad to see his new friend looking so dejected. "Hey, it's not all bad. Look on the bright side, you-uh-you got- Hmm…" Bryce probably should've thought about this before trying to point out the fortunes of a guy he barely knew.

"Don't bother, man. I've already realized my place in the world. For now, I'm just regular old Chuck Bartowski." The tall young man shrugged, a small smirk playing at his lips.

"Hey, Chuck!" called Devin from the driver's seat of his Yaris, adding a honk of his horn for good measure. Chuck waved at him in acknowledgement and looked at Bryce.

"Guess our ride's here." Chuck said, back to his carefree self in a matter of seconds. Bryce truly did like this guy. It was refreshing to meet someone that wasn't so stern-faced and cold like most of the agents Bryce dealt with on a daily basis.

It was refreshing to meet someone that didn't have a gazillion secrets to hide like he did.

XxxxXXXxxxX

Once they arrived at the Bartowski residence, which looked similar to Bryce's own Columbian home next door, Chuck swiveled his head to the back seat, looking serious. Devin had already exited the car, anxious to see his beautiful wife Ellie, and Chuck had locked the car doors as soon as the buff doctor left.

"I just have one question for you, Mr. Redford, are you ready?" Chuck asked gravely. Bryce smiled nervously, not sure what to make of the situation. _Please tell me Chuck isn't in on this mission. Please. _Bryce couldn't bear the thought of knowing the first sane person he met was actually another government operative in disguise.

"Ready for what, Chuck?" Bryce asked cautiously.

Wordlessly, Chuck slipped a blue jewel disk through the crack of the frontseat's headrest. With a sinking heart, Bryce grabbed it, knowing for sure that it was probably the floor-plans to some bank or another.

Bryce's eyes widened when he read the title on the disk. "What's this?"

Chuck's face broke into a full-blown smile. "Uhh, only the first unofficial release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2!"

Bryce let out a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding and allowed a matching smile to overtake his features. "Dude! How did you get this?"

"Oh, I have my connections…" Chuck puffed up with mock-superiority. He waved a dismissing hand after the act. "Just kidding, I got it from Morgan Grimes in Study Hall. He's a really good friend of mine. Cool guy. He's coming over later to play it with us so you can meet him."

As big a video game nerd as Bryce secretly was, his face fell at Chuck's statement. The junior agent looked down at the pirated copy of the game between in his fingers. The taller boy in the front seat caught the look on his friends face and tilted his head in confusion.

"Something wrong? You can play it with us, right?" Bryce turned to look at Chuck's crestfallen expression.

"I'm-I'm not sure. I might need to ask my mom and dad first," Bryce said, cringing inwardly at the hokieness of his reply.

"Oh come on, man. We spent all day watching documentaries so there's not even any homework to deal with. It'll only be for a few hours. They won't even notice you're gone."

Bryce felt conflicted but the earnest look on Chuck's face was a hard thing to pass up. Inside, Bryce just wanted to feel what it was like to be a normal teenager, even for just a few hour. Sure, he had to give a report and debrief with Sarah and Casey, but that didn't take very long, right? With a resolved expression, he nodded. "Okay, let's go set up the Xbox."

"All right!" Chuck replied, feeling victorious.

XxxxXXXxxxX

"Oh! Oh! Yes! Eat it! Eat it! Aaand you're gone!" Chuck pumped his fist in triumph as he unloaded an entire round of shotgun shells into the player on the screen.

"C'mon, man, I thought we were bros. That's not even cool." Morgan replied in an unhappy tone, shaking his head as he stared at his kill-screen. Bryce had to smirk at how serious the shorter young man was taking it. Having only met him moments before, Bryce was able to assess what a character Morgan Grimes truly was. And although Grimes had some obvious flaws (his unending need to talk about every female in the junior class, to name one.), his loyalty for Chuck was through and through. And that was something Bryce found admirable in just about anybody.

"Let's double team him this time, huh?" Bryce said to Morgan, once his player was resurrected from the grave. Chuck turned from the screen to give Bryce one of his annoyed sneers that said, "That's not even remotely funny to even say."

"Sorry, no can do, my friend. Chuck may be a ruthless killer but he will still be my bro first, and I will never go against the creed." Morgan nodded doggedly.

"Suit yourself," Bryce said, planting a headshot on Morgan's avatar and properly fragging him.

"Hohoho! Good one, Redford!" Chuck and Bryce high-fived dynamically. Morgan shook his head, his eyes slits.

Before the shorter boy could come up with a good comeback to Chuck and Bryce's sudden partnership, a voice weaved itself into the teenage boys' video game battle. "Hey, boys, we're going to have to wrap this up." The three looked to the right to see Ellie standing at the top of the stairwell. Morgan paused the game at the sight of Chuck's gray-eyed sister.

"Well hello there, Eleanor, did you come all the way up here just to see me?" the young man asked, putting on his most flirtatious bedroom eyes.

Chuck nudged Morgan in the side, looking incredulous, as Ellie pursed her lips, trying not to barf in her mouth at her brother's creepy little friend. "Actually, I came up here for Bryce. Honey, your father is here to pick you up."

Bryce's heart sank at her words. He quickly glanced at the overhead clock above the staircase. Ten o'clock! He had been playing video games for the past six hours? How could he have let that happen? Starting to panic, Bryce took out from his pocket his cellphone, which he had conveniently left on silent during their rounds of gameplay, and saw that there were over twenty texts and voice mails from both Sarah and Casey.

Holy crap, he was in big trouble.

"I'm sure he'll be down in just a minute," Bryce heard Devin saying as two sets of footsteps ascended the stairs. With wide eyes, Bryce saw Casey making his way up the stairs, a none too pleased expression on his stony features.

Once the large agent arrived at the top of the staircase with Devin and Ellie, Bryce could hear audible gasps coming from both Chuck and Morgan. Yet, the fear on their faces from seeing the angry-looking "father" of Bryce, was nothing compared to what Bryce was dealing with.

"Bryce…" Casey all but growled to him. "Let's go." Bryce's bright blue eyes turned downward as he put aside the controller and nodded at Chuck and Morgan.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow," he said, more like prayed, to the pair. Chuck sent a glance to Bryce's "dad" and nodded with little confidence.

"Sure, um, sleep well?" Chuck replied awkwardly, feeling the heat of Casey's glare on his own face._ Oh God, he's never going to let Bryce talk to me again… Because he will have killed me. _Chuck thought miserably, sending a twitching smile in Casey's direction.

"Okay, it was nice to have you over, Bryce," Ellie said cheerfully as Casey led Bryce down the stairs with a firm grip on his upper arm.

"Yeah, and if you still need a ride to school tomorrow, just drop on by," Devin chimed in, feeling uneasy around the obviously livid father.

"Thanks. Tell Chuck I said thank you too." Bryce replied, trying to seem calm but knowing his voice betrayed him. The couple waved goodbye to them as they exited the house and Bryce tried not think of how ironic that was.

Casey's grip only grew tighter after they left, but Bryce knew better to complain as he was led back to the house, into the kitchen, and pushed to sit on a kitchen chair. Sarah came down the stairs still in her clothes from her job as a waitress, a white cordless phone pushed to her cheek. "Did you find him, Casey?" When she caught sight of the blue-eyed young man, she pressed a button on the phone and sighed in overwhelming relief. "Thank God! Where was he?"

Casey, in his customary military stance with his hands on his belt, looked down at the guilt-ridden Bryce with a frown. "Over at the house next door, playing video games with a couple of nerds for the past six hours."

"They're not-" Bryce was about to defend but decided better of it by the Look Casey bestowed to him.

If Casey was mad, then Sarah looked positively furious. She crossed her arms across her black tank top that had the restaurant's red logo embroidered on the front of it. The phone was tucked into the red apron tied to her waist. Her face held a tight lipped scowl and her eyes were burning with righteous fury. "You didn't even bother to call?" she started incredulously.

"I'm sor-"

"Spare me the apologies, Bryce," Sarah spoke over him, a hand raised to quiet him. The young man was particularly alarmed by the way she used his first name. "You are one of the agency's top junior spies yet you seem to have thrown all caution to the wind today- for what? Play video games next door? I just don't understand how someone with your training could let that happen."

Bryce let his stare fall to the table, his hands wringing worriedly in his lap. He could sense the disappointment from both agents but the shame that followed was even worse. They couldn't imagine how small he felt right then. Just that morning he had wanted to show them he was an agent worth keeping around, and already, on his first day on the job, he had blown it. _They must hate me..._

"Do you know how worried we were?" Sarah said softly, causing Bryce to look up in shock. _What? Worried?_ That was the last think Bryce thought they would be towards him, but the sincerity he saw in Sarah's eyes told him she wasn't joking around. "Casey and I couldn't even track you because your homing device wasn't activated."

"That was my fault," Casey admitted, albeit quietly. "But you still should've called, Larkin. And for that, we're issuing you a detainment to your school and this house, starting immediately."

"What?" Bryce exclaimed, standing up with indignation. Casey pushed him back down in the chair, giving him a warning look, but the resentful expression on Bryce's face stayed in place. "You mean you're_ grounding_ me?"

"Casey and I thought it best you receive appropriate consequences to your actions to prevent you from making similar mistakes in the future," Sarah replied in an even tone.

"So, yeah, Larkin, you're grounded." Casey replied, almost smugly.

Bryce seethed at their treatment of him. Just because he was the youngest member of the team didn't mean they could boss him around like this. They had a mission, goddamnit! "How am I supposed to complete my part of the mission if I'm stuck here?"

"Oh, look at you, suddenly giving a crap about the mission. Did video games become too boring for you?" Casey taunted mercilessly.

"Casey." Sarah interjected, trying to stop his cruelty despite her own anger for the situation. "Bryce, we just have to know you aren't going to do something like this again. It's unprofessional and puts us all at risk. Do you understand?"

Bryce gritted his teeth. "For how long?"

Casey and Sarah looked at each other, but it was Sarah who decided to answer. "Until you prove to us you're serious about this mission."

Bryce's eyes flared up. "That's not fair! You aren't even my real parents; this isn't a real family! You can't just decide to punish me when you see fit!"

"Thankfully, you're right about us not being your real parents," Casey said, which got him a glare from his blond partner. "But we _are_ your superiors and what we say, you follow. Are you clear on that, Agent Larkin?"

Bryce scowled into his lap, wanting nothing more than to put his fist through something. Preferably Major Casey's gut.

"I said, are. We. _Clear_?" Casey asked one last time.

"Yes, sir." Bryce grounded out.

"Good, now get to bed. You still got school tomorrow." Casey reminded. The two agents watched as Bryce rose from his chair, his head bowed, and made his way to his room.

Sarah turned to Casey after a few moments of buzzing silence.

"I think we were too hard on him," she said, her eyes softening a bit. "I know for a fact you were. Why do you have to be like that with Bryce?"

"He's seventeen years old, Walker. Being harsh is the only way to get things through his thick skull." Sarah shook her head at her partner's response and went to the refrigerator to grab some snacks before heading up the stairs. "Where are you going?"

"To give Bryce some food. Even you aren't that harsh, Casey." Sarah said pointedly, continuing her ascent up the stairs to Bryce's room. She knocked on the door, a bag of chips and fruit in hand. "Bryce, can I come in?"

"It's not like I could stop you," Bryce replied coldly. Sarah entered with a sigh at the teen's insolence, placing the food on the bedside table and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I thought you might be hungry," she told the boy who was curled atop the covers in his clothes from the day, his back faced to her. "You should probably change to something more comfortable."

"Is that an order?" Bryce asked in the same cheeky tone he had used prior.

"No… Just a suggestion." Sarah replied sadly at the young man's distrust towards her.

Bryce turned on his back and surveyed Sarah's downcast expression. He truly did feel guilty about not calling and jeopardizing the mission, and the emotion was only multiplied by his superiors' disappointment of him. The young man sighed. "Look, I know you already said you didn't want to hear it, but I really am sorry."

Sarah looked up at him, a tinge of hope in her eyes.

Bryce thought it safe to continue. "I should've done a lot of things today, but I screwed up. And, as much as I hate to admit it, you and Casey are probably right…" The last part came out in more of a grumble, but the fact that he was able to even get it out was a miracle on its own.

"I forgive you, Bryce. And, hey, agents make mistakes a lot of times. Casey forgot to activate your tracker just this morning. I accidentally signed my last name on a receipt for lunch. Nobody's perfect." Bryce allowed a small smile at Sarah's tries to reassure him. "You're a good agent and an even better kid. It's just not easy being the new guy. Casey just has a hard time remembering that sometimes."

Bryce rolled his eyes and grinned. "That's one way to put it."

Sarah laughed. "Okay, maybe Casey's not the easiest man to be around, but he's a lot nicer than you think. Trust me. Once you get to know him, his bark is a lot worse than his bite."

The young man obviously didn't believe her on that but grabbed the bag of chips on the nightstand to change the subject.

"Thanks for the food," he said, biting into one of the chips.

"No problem," she replied. They sunk into a semi-comfortable silence as Bryce began to eat. "I'm glad you're okay. So… Did you have fun with Chuck?"

Bryce almost choked on his food. He didn't expect that kind of question. Not when he had just gotten in trouble for having been with Chuck in the first place. "I-I guess so." Bryce stuttered, struggling with how to answer.

"Good. He seems like a nice kid. When you're not grounded anymore, you can probably hang out with him again. –Just give Casey and me a call first, okay?"

"Don't worry. I doubt I'll forget that again." Bryce said almost bitterly.

There was a pause before Sarah spoke again. "Are you going to be okay?" Bryce looked up at her, trying to understand what she meant.

"Me? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it." Bryce replied, trying to shake her of her concerned look. Sarah smiled and fiddled with the hair in front of his eyes.

"Good." She got up, taking one of the discarded chip bags with her. She turned to him before leaving the room. "Goodnight, Bryce."

"Goodnight." Bryce said, oddly enough, in a much better mood then when she first got here.

XxxxXXXxxxX

A/N: I do hope ya'll are enjoying this story. Please review if you do, or review if you don't!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I repeat- This story is not about Chuck or Sarah. It's about Bryce. Not going to bother repeating the obvious, haha. Thanks for the reviews all the same! Love them!

XxxxXXXxxxX

The next morning, Bryce woke up especially early to avoid seeing Casey or Sarah. Just because he had a heart to heart with Sarah didn't mean he was ready to face them. Bryce slumped down the stairs with his socked feet, wearing a white, fitted polo, navy hoodie, and distressed jeans. He blinked tiredly, questioning if waking up before the sun peaked above the horizon was worth it, when he stood at attention at some movement in the kitchen.

Turning his plod to a silent creep, Bryce descended the wooden steps and only relaxed when he heard the gruff voice say, "Wow, if that's your idea of stealth, I'd carry a bigger gun to compensate."

Bryce scowled at the broad shouldered man, ignoring him as he walked over to the refrigerator and started taking out the fixings for cereal. He warily watched Casey, who was currently cleaning out the barrels of his weapons, and chose to sit at the farthest end of the counter from the man.

After he poured himself a bowl of honey nut cheerios, Bryce began strolling around the kitchen, looking at the various decorations that the agency had put up to make the house seem like a real family lived there. There was even a picture of Casey, Sarah, and him having a picnic in a park, which Bryce couldn't help wincing at. It really looked like they were a family in the picture. It was weird to see.

Like most agents, Bryce's own history with his family was sketchy. At just 14 years old, Bryce Larkin was recruited after his con parents were arrested for a multitude of crimes the CIA pinned on them. To avoid being sent to a foster home, Bryce agreed to their terms to train him and get him back on the straight and narrow. Now 17, Bryce had given up on the hope that his life would ever be normal (not like it ever was). It was all just a job now, and the sooner Bryce realized this, the better off he'd be.

Turning his face from the haunting picture, Bryce resumed his perusal to another counter with various knick knacks placed atop it. He stuffed a bite of cereal in his mouth as he observed the small plant on the counter. It technically didn't match with the rest of the modern-styled kitchen, seeing as it was an Asian bonsai plant. Bryce was about to reach out and test if it were real when a voice cut through.

"Step away from the bonsai, Larkin," Casey grumbled from behind him. Bryce almost jumped, not realizing Casey had even been watching him. Bryce glared at the man but continued to observe the miniature tree, chewing thoughtfully on his cereal. Casey growled, daring him to touch it again, but Bryce wasn't _that _stupid.

It had obviously had a lot of care put into it considering its thick trunk and full branches. Wait… Was this Casey's bonsai? His protectiveness for the shrubbery certainly seemed to support that theory. When Bryce leaned a little closer to observe the pruning work, he found himself being pushed aside, the tree being snapped up from his sight. Casey walked it over to a high windowsill just out of Bryce's reach.

The young man scowled at Casey when he returned to his gun cleaning. "I wasn't going to touch it." Bryce pointed out. Casey acted like he didn't hear him though. "I was just admiring the work. You do all the maintenance yourself?"

Casey set the earwig and barrel down to look at Bryce with a suspicious glare. "You know something about bonsais?"

"I had a few back at the academy when I was rooming with my friend Jason Woo." Bryce tried not to sound haughty when talking about such a nerdy subject but, by the look on Casey's face, he had just become marginally more interesting.

"Huh, maybe we should get another one then," was Casey's reply after considering Bryce for a moment. Bryce wanted to fall down in shock at the statement and fortunately the older agent had turned back to his work before seeing Bryce's mouth fall open. Was Casey being... being _nice_? Bryce put his bowl into the sink and grabbed his backpack, shaking his head at the man. He was probably just imagining it. "Wait a sec, we have to activate that tracker. Don't want you escaping on the first day of your grounding." Bryce clenched his jaw, walking over to the larger man. Yep, he had definitely been imagining it.

Casey grabbed hold of his wrist and Bryce resisted the urge to pull away from the contact. He took out a small screwdriver and fiddled with a few of the settings on the side of the watch until the watch face started glowing red, blinking "ACTIVATED" in digital letters. Casey ruffled his hair once he was done, which got him a withering glare from Bryce's end. "I'll pick you up from school after work."

"Don't bother. Chuck gives me a ride home to and from school," Bryce told the man. Plus, he didn't want to be in an enclosed space with Casey for more than a few milliseconds.

Casey let out a bark-like laugh. "That's not going to happen. Not after yesterday."

"How does yesterday have anything to do with Chuck giving me a ride home?"

"This isn't a discussion, Larkin, just be outside the doors of that school by 3:30." Casey ordered, poking a finger roughly into Bryce's chest. The young man winced then scowled darkly at the man. "Stop it with all the dirty looks. You've got your orders, now go to school."

Bryce clenched his jaw and slung his backpack over his shoulder again. It was taking orders from guys like Casey that made Bryce wish he had chosen foster housing over the CIA. It was too late now though. He already knew too much.

When Bryce left through the front door without another word to Casey, the big, grumbling ogre, he turned to find the one and only Chuck Bartowski sitting on his porch step, asleep against the white washed post. Bryce crept over to him and nudged him a few times on the other boy's shoulder.

"Chuck? Wake up. What are you doing here so early?" It was now 6:30am and Devin probably wasn't even ready to take the two to school yet for another 45 minutes. Chuck snorted awake, looking as if he forgot where he was. When he caught sight of Bryce staring concernedly down at him, things started to connect better for him.

"Hey-hey, Bryce. Good morning. Did you sleep well?" Chuck asked, standing to stretch at his full height of six feet, rubbing the grit of sleep out of his eyes.

Bryce was clearly still puzzled by the other boy who was now yawning from his outdoor nap. "Yeah, I'd like to ask you the same question. Did Awesome and Ellie take away your mattress or something?"

Chuck laughed politely at the insinuation, rubbing the back of head. "No, just thought I'd meet up with you a bit earlier than usual." Bryce obviously wasn't falling for it, and Chuck was becoming good at deciphering his new friend's facial expressions. "All right, I just- I couldn't sleep, you know? I felt really guilty about keeping you so long yesterday. And the way your dad looked- I mean, how did you turn out remotely functional with such an imposing dad like him!"

Bryce allowed himself a small smile. Even Bryce couldn't answer how he was going to survive the next few weeks with Casey as his makeshift father. The man was already pushing him to his limit, and they hadn't been in the neighborhood for more than a week. "He's not so bad." Bryce lied, if only to make Chuck feel better. "And you shouldn't feel guilty. It was my fault I wasn't paying attention to the time."

"Yeah, but you said you should have checked in with your parents. I'm sorry I persuaded you to the dark side like that." Chuck sighed, averting his gaze, shamefaced, to the floor. Bryce knit his eyebrows together.

"Don't worry about it, dude. We're cool." Bryce tried to assure him. "And I had a pretty good time yesterday."

"Really? So it wasn't so bad with the 'rents?" Chuck questioned hopefully. He had been worried about Bryce's well-being after Casey had angrily barged into the room. "No broken bones or… Brain damage." He gulped.

Bryce shook his head. "No, nothing like that. I am grounded for an indefinite amount of time though."

"Yikes, really? Last time I was 'grounded indefinitely' was when I accidentally pushed Awesome's super expensive treadmill into the community pool." There was a pause as Bryce tilted his head in question. "It, um-Don't ask."

"So are you done sleeping on the doorstep or do you need a few more minutes?" Bryce asked, motioning to the hard wood porch.

"Haha, oh yeah, I'm all finished here. It's all yours. So, we can probably still play video games in your place, right?" Chuck started walking toward the front door of Bryce's house but the the blue-eyed boy hurried to stop him.

"I wouldn't go in there. I don't have my console set up yet and… Dad's in the kitchen." At the thought of Bryce's dad in, Chuck released the door handle as if it were burning.

"Yeaah, he didn't look like a morning person." Bryce nodded with a grin.

XxxxXXXxxxX

Three uneventful, totally boring days passed and Bryce was still grounded, still going to school, and still just miserable. He had already tried breaking out of the house for one night of something semi-interesting, but that didn't go over well with his two colleagues, who barred him from going on missions as well as being grounded for much longer.

"How do you ground someone longer than indefinitely?" Bryce asked irreverently, annoyed after being caught at an arcade, having driven there in Casey's Crown Victoria.

"I don't know. But if you got a scratch on my Crown Vic than you're going to get a lot worse than some measly detention," Casey growled at him. The two males held heated eye contact in a fruitless staring contest until Sarah finally interrupted it.

"Bryce, just go upstairs and stay in your room for the rest of the night," she said, and Bryce turned away from Casey and looked almost betrayed by her firm tone.

With a few audible grumbles, Bryce heaved himself up from the chair and made his way up the stairs.

After he left, Sarah sighed. "He just needs time, Casey," Sarah tried, although she was irritated with the boy herself.

"He needs a lot more than that…"

And so Bryce sat, in the final class for the week, staring dead-eyed at the clock above the door, willing it to go faster so he could begin a miserable weekend cooped up inside with Sarah and Casey. Hmm, maybe he should be willing the hands to go slower.

_BRIIIING!_ The bell rang and resonant sighs swept over the biology lab as everyone gathered together their belongings. "Okay, have a nice weekend, everybody." The teacher yelled over the bustle of the class. A few students bothered a farewell to him. "Bryce Redford, can I speak to you for a moment?"

A few girls "Ooo'd" at the announcement and Bryce cast them a carefree smirk, showing he was obviously not worried. Once the classroom was completely empty, the teacher stuck his hand out to Bryce, which he shook tightly. "It's nice to finally introduce myself to you, Junior Agent Larkin."

"You too, Mr. Jefferson," even though Bryce was sure he didn't feel the same sentiment. Mr. Jefferson held a meaningful gaze with Bryce for a few moments before releasing their handshake.

"Anyways, let's get back to business then, shall we?" He rounded the front of his wooden desk and opened the top drawer. Inside there was a miscellaneous arrangement of office supplies. He began typing in a twelve digit code into a calculator, which opened another drawer on the side of the desk.

Mr. Jefferson pulled out a short stack of important looking files and handed them over to Bryce. "Nobody has looked at them yet, per the agency's request. For your eyes only, Agent Larkin." He smiled, looking quite intimidated by Bryce's very presence.

Bryce nodded in appreciation and accepted the documents. "I'll be sure to tell the agency about your wonderful teamwork."

"Thank-thank you, Agent Larkin. That would mean a lot." Bryce smiled and left with the documents to the boy's room, feeling a little weirded out by the teacher's astonishment by him. Once he was sure he was alone, he entered one of the restroom's dingy stalls and sat on top of the toilet with the files in his lap.

Bryce held in his lap the candidates of the government's greatest asset: the Intersect. For the first time in a long time, Bryce felt important by being able to see these files first, even before Sarah and Casey. Sure, he'd have to turn the documents over to them later but for now, he could grasp this iota of true power.

"Okay, let's see who we got," Bryce whispered to himself as he opened the first of the five files. "Karen Baker. Hmm…" She was an unexceptional student and seemed to have chosen all "a" answers. The following two students were exactly the same. _Kids would do anything to get out of class early, _Bryce thought cynically.

The second to the last file was a boy named Dirk Friedman who Bryce knew for a fact had been sleeping for most of the documentaries displayed in class. Not a chance he was the real Intersect. Wondering if these scientifically proven tests were as good as the agency promised, Bryce reluctantly opened the last file, not expecting to see much.

His body froze at the picture.

"Chuck." He whispered, shock washing over him.

XxxxXXXxxxX

A/N: I know, I know, it's a short one. Please don't kill me. I'll have another update by next week. Just thought I'd leave you with the big "cliffhanger" 'till then. Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you so very, very much for the feedback, you TWO reviewers. Just kidding, I'm thankful for all of it. Thank you for reading, most of all!

XxxxXXXxxxX

Bryce hugged his backpack to his chest, thinking intently on how to handle this. After reviewing Chuck's test scores, it was obvious this guy, ironically the first guy Bryce ever met since the move, was the government's famed Intersect. The handsome teen shook his head in utter disbelief. Life truly wasn't fair.

Chuck had become Bryce's constant for normalcy in this wacked out town. Now… Geez, once the agency found out about what was going on inside his head, Chuck's whole life would be flipped upside down. If Bryce thought his life was bad, he could only hope for something marginally less terrible for Chuck.

_No, I have to protect him._ Bryce would never wish the life he was leading as a secret government operative on anyone else. Especially not Chuck, who had done nothing wrong except to be born with an incredible mind. Stowing the files securely in his bag, away from the other Intersect candidates, Bryce vowed to destroy it as soon as he got home, securing Chuck's identity away from the government.

HONK! Bryce jumped, caught up in his illicit thoughts. He turned his piercing blue eyes to Casey's car, the driver staring impatiently at him, waiting for the teen to get in. Bryce jumped off the ledge, his backpack still held unnaturally close to his chest.

When he entered the car, Casey was staring expectantly at him.

"Well?" the burly man enquired to emphasize his anticipation. Bryce nodded, trying to hide his shaky inhale as he fished the four folders out of his bag. After snatching them from the stony-faced boy, Casey greedily opened each packet, scanning quickly over the students' results. He growled when he arrived at the last file, throwing all four into the backseat. "Idiots. Well, this school was obviously a dud. Too bad. The agency had some reservations about this being the place."

Casey started the car and they began making the long drive back to their house.

"Believe me, I've been going to this school this past week and have found no form of remarkable intelligence." Bryce said, hoping he sounded casual.

Casey smirked at this. "I dunno, your two Xbox pals seemed pretty nerdy."

Bryce's eyes widened at the statement. Did Casey know? _No, that's not possible. Get ahold of yourself, Larkin! _Bryce mentally reprimanded. To cover up his momentary panic, Bryce tried for an easy chuckle. "Good one!"

_Oh God,_ Bryce closed his eyes. Did he just congratulate Casey one of his pathetic jokes? When he opened his eyes again, he noticed Casey's self-satisfied smirk. Huh, apparently he didn't find it so hard to believe that others could find him funny. That was at least good for Bryce.

"Speaking of your nerdy friend. His name's Chuck, right?" Bryce gulped, nodding jerkily. "Yeah, Sarah said we were going over to their place tonight. Some family dinner. Really we're just trying to get an opening to start testing people at the local hospital since Drs. Whitcomb both work there."

"Oh, that's an awesome idea, but I've got some homework to do tonight so… I probably can't go," Bryce let the crappy excuse tumble out of his mouth clumsily. What else was he supposed to do? He couldn't be in the same room as Chuck, not when he knew the guy was the Intersect. The pressure alone would tear him apart.

"What are you talking about? It's the weekend." Casey pointed out, sending Bryce a disbelieving glance.

Bryce searched his mind for another excuse but it was no use. There weren't many excuses you could use when you were grounded. "Oh yeah, forgot about the weekend."

"Just wear something nice. We want to seem as normal a family as possible."

"Easier said than done," Bryce murmured to himself.

"What was that, Larkin?"

"Nothing, sir."

XxxxXXXxxxX

"Welcome to our place. Mi casa es tu casa," Dr. Devon Whitcomb greeted the family of three with his 100-watt grin. Sarah kissed Ellie on the cheek as she handed over a "homemade" casserole for their dinner tonight. Bryce managed to make it around the crowd of adults to go in search of Chuck.

Before he could go up the stairs to Chuck's room, Casey grabbed him by the sleeve of his jacket. "Behave youself tonight, okay, kid?" Bryce nodded, trying to hide his contempt for the older agent with a forced smile.

"I will," Bryce promised before climbing the rest of the stairs. He found Chuck lying on his stomach in bed, reading one of Bryce's favorite books, _The Hitchhikers Guide to Galaxy_. It just didn't make sense that such a cool, normal kid had the capacity to hold all of the government's secrets and so much more. Bryce shuddered to think the kinds of tests they would perform on Chuck if they ever found out.

Bryce knocked on the doorframe to Chuck's room, causing the other boy to look up from his reading and smile at him. "Hey, Bryce, my sister told me you were coming. Are your parents here?"

"Yeah, I think that's why it's called a family dinner." Bryce pointed out, walking around Chuck's room to survey the taller boy's chess awards, pictures, and collection of books.

Chuck rubbed that back of his head and set his book down on the nightstand. "Hey, how do you think you did on that test we took yesterday?"

Bryce's posture instinctively tensed, but thankfully he was able to cover it up with a shrug. "I don't know. The questions didn't make a lot of sense, personally." That was actually true since that was how the test was designed.

"Yeah…" Chuck trailed off, lost in thought. "That's what I thought at first but slowly things started to make sense. Like, my brain would, I dunno, click with all the questions they were asking. Did you get that feeling with any of the problems?"

Oh God, Chuck was doing precisely what he shouldn't be doing: asking questions. Bryce turned to him, his eyes beseeching the other boy. "Chuck, I need you to listen to me. Please, don't ask anymore questions about that test. Is that clear?"

The other 17 year old just looked at him oddly. "Okay, Bryce, what's gotten into you? You're acting kinda freaky."

The guilt in Bryce's stomach was twisting itself in even weirder knots than before. Chuck wasn't stupid, that much was obvious, yet Bryce was exposing much more that he wanted to. Trying to contain himself, he looked chuck squarely in the eyes.

"Just promise me, Chuck. Don't talk about the tests," Bryce told him evenly, his voice barely above a whisper. Chuck pursed his lips, unable to know what to think. Here he was trying to talk about the events of the last school days with his new friend and said new friend was acting as if something ominous was going to happen.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Why don't we just talk about this, Bryce-"

"No!" Bryce yelled hastily, and the young men tensed, trying to hear for sounds if the adults downstairs heard Bryce's outburst. They still seemed to be minding their own pwith petty small talk. Retreating back to the Chuck predicament, Bryce began pacing the small length of the room. He didn't know how to handle this. He brushed his hand through his wavy brown hair, an inner battle brewing in his gut. _I'm just a kid, for god's sake. _

Bryce suddenly lowered himself on the bed, resting his head in his hands. The teen jumped a little when a hand landed on his shoulder, and he looked up to see Chuck staring concernedly back at him.

"If you say you don't wanna talk about it, then we won't talk about it." Chuck's sincerity made Bryce visibly relax. Wordlessly, he nodded back in appreciation, glad Chuck was willing to let the subject and his freakout slide for the time being.

Bryce figured as long as he lasted through the dinner, he would be fine. Nothing was more important than protecting Chuck's identity at this point, but the longer he was with Chuck, the harder it was to hide these details from him. Bryce couldn't help the relief from flooding through him at the call from Captain Awesome downstairs.

"Hey, bros, we're already to chow down!" Bryce and Chuck gave each other meaningful looks, silently agreeing to keep their mouths shut.

"Kay, we're coming!" Chuck called back, feeling like he should say something to reduce the awkwardness level.

The two boys ascended the stairs and were met with a nice spread prepared by Ellie and Devin. Earlier, Chuck had started helping with the dinner but was promptly banished from the kitchen after an incidence with the chicken. What? It wasn't his fault he got the short end of the culinary stick. Computers were more his speed anyway.

"This looks great," Bryce complimented Chuck's guardians, aware that Sarah and Casey would be hanging on to every word he said tonight. They still weren't in the business of trusting him, and Casey made that clear with his constant intimidation tactics. According to the older agent, "groundings would be the least of his worries" if he screwed up the dinner tonight.

The two families sat down at the table and dug in to the hearty dishes. Halfway through the meal, after all the attendees had a taste of each entrée, everyone agree the Whitcombs had truly outdone themselves.

"This chicken is delicious." Sarah commented, taking another bite of the tenderized meat. "How did you make it?"

"Oh!" Ellie said, flattered by Sarah's interest. "It's an old Bartowski recipe my mom passed down to us."

Chuck, who had been blabbering to Bryce about his future plans to be a computer software extraordinaire, went unnaturally quiet at the statement. Casey, who had been listening to the boy ramble on and on, was happy for the peace, but Bryce became concerned for his friend's sensitivity on the subject of his mom. _I guess Chuck and I have more in common than we think..._

Devin noticed Chuck's withdrawal into himself as well and decided to change the subject. "So, Casey?" Casey looked up at him as pleasantly as his hardened features could muster. "How's a guy like you meet a girl like Sarah?"

Bryce couldn't help the snort that tore through him or the involuntary shivers that shook his body from laughing. When he calmed himself a bit, Bryce looked up to see Casey baring his teeth at him angrily and Chuck laughing silently as well.

"Well, I'll tell you, Devin," Casey said, turning up to look at the oblivious doctor. Bryce decided to cut in at this moment.

"Wait, Dad, why don't you let me tell it?" Bryce asked with his infamous grin, mischief glinted in his eyes.

"Nonsense, Bryce," Casey growled. "I think I know how to tell the story of my own engagement."

"Oh, I know. He's been telling me the story ever since I was little." Casey twitched, looking ready to strangle the boy who had relentlessly continued. "You see, dad here was never the talking type, but when mom came around then that all changed..."

Bryce then persisted to recount a bogus tale of how Casey got a job as a manicurist at a beauty supply store specifically because Sarah went their every week to get her nails done. After giving her plenty of mani-pedi combos, Casey thought they formed enough of a relationship to be a real couple. Fortunately, Sarah had thought so too and accepted the proposal after finding the ring on her favorite color nailpolish. "-Shimmery Ocean Coral." Bryce finished off with an exaggerated sigh. "I can only hope to be twice the romantic my dad is someday." Bryce patted Casey's muscular arm in admiration.

Casey was fuming, Devin and Ellie were hiding confused stares under polite smiles, and Sarah and Chuck were failing to suppress their laughter by covering their mouths with napkins.

Knowing that Casey would be on the verge of throttling him in about five more seconds, Bryce suddenly turned to Chuck. "Hey, Chuck, you wanna see my new camera? It has night vision on it so we can test it outside."

"Nightvision on a camera? Well, that's an irresistible combo," Chuck said with his trademark sarcasm, believing it was in his best interests to scram from Casey's heat vision ASAP. "That okay?" he asked, turning to Ellie, who nodded approvingly. She was fond of anybody that didn't look like a midget with a penchant for digging through her underwear drawer. She shuddered at the thought of another Morgan.

Immediately, the two teens made their way into Chuck's backyard, the sun still peeking over the horizon in a perfect Californian sunset. Before taking out his camera, Bryce admired the view for a moment. It felt nice being outside since Casey had installed the alarms on his windows, preventing him from enjoying the breezy weather.

"Dude, major props for that story back there," Chuck said, sticking his fist out for a bump. When Bryce misunderstood the regular "young person fad", Chuck was forced to pull it back awkwardly with a sheepish grin. "Ookay, I get it, saving it for later."

Bryce was still confused by Chuck's statement though. "Wait, how did you know I made up the whole thing?"

"C'mon, the only way Casey could work in a beauty supply store would be in some children's movie gone wrong. The only thing I couldn't figure out was why your dad didn't call you on it…" Chuck seemed to reflect on that bit of information while Bryce struggled to formulate his own answer to that question.

"Well, my dad is really into the creative process. He lets me go on and on with my tales. Like, if he were to try to stop me, he would be suppressing my natural ability to construct novel ideas." Chuck's entire being was radiating with confusion. Bryce couldn't say he understood what he just said himself. "At least, that's why my dad says. He's pretty crazy."

"Oh yeah, that much I gathered." Chuck nodded with confidence, making Bryce smile.

"Yep, we're definitely not your average family…" Bryce murmured to himself. They busied themselves for the next twenty minutes by fiddling with the camera Bryce had pulled out of his jeans pocket. The startlingly blue-eyed young man was happy Chuck had seemed to forget the whole episode in his room about the tests. For a few minutes longer, Bryce was allowed the chance to be normal teenager instead of pressured by all this Intersect crap.

"I don't know about you, but I think we could start making some pretty hilarious Blair Witch Project material with this thing," Chuck suggested, after filming a passing squirrel with the night vision filter.

Bryce grinned. "Yeah, we can probably have my dad be the monster."

The thought of hiding from Casey as if he were some sinister being made Chuck laugh uncontrollably. While laughing along with Chuck, Bryce was lazily balancing himself on a path of larger rocks that had been strategically placed in a river-rock pattern for aesthetic reasons. While Chuck started brainstorming on a few more ideas for their "show," Bryce was all but clueless to the movements being made several houses away until...

"Sunuva-!" Bryce yelled as his feet twisted in a knot and his head soundly smacked against on of the sharper rocks he was about to jump to. Chuck turned around almost immediately, a look of panic overtaking his features as he saw the scene play out in front of him. Blood started gushing out of a large cut on Bryce's head, and an angry red bruise was already blooming underneath that. "Aggh!" Bryce cringed in pain and Chuck wondered how anyone could survive such a terrible fall and not be screaming in agony. -That's what Chuck would be doing at least.

"Oh no. Oh no!" Chuck repeated over and over, unable to take his eyes off the boy lying helplessly in the bed of rocks.

"Chuck, calm down, get some help," Bryce managed to choke out in a voice thick with anguish from the intense throbbing in his head.

"Right, okay," the young man raced inside the house, flustered and hot, and met all the adults still sitting around the table discussing God knows what. At the look on Chuck's face, everyone seemed to stand at attention, waiting for Chuck to explain himself. "Brycefellandnowhe'sbleedinglikecrazyheneedshelp!"

A regular person would tilt their head in confusion at Chuck's hasty word vomit, but the four medically-trained professionals all stood up and swiftly made their way outside without another word. The sight of Bryce, bleeding heavily from his head and looking much worse for wear, caused Ellie and Awesome to bolt into immediate "doctor mode."

"Chuck, help us get some of our medical supplies from the house. Now!" Ellie ordered and the three raced back into the house to get the medical instruments, leaving Casey and Sarah with their injured "son."

As soon as the other family left, the agents were hovering over their junior, looking anxious for him and their mission.

"Geez, Larkin, we're dealing with assassins but you're being taken down by a pile of rocks?" Casey grumbled with the utmost disappointment. Sarah's eyes lit afire at Casey comment and she smacked him accordingly.

"Stop it, Casey, Bryce is hurt. Stop getting mad at the kid just for losing his footing." Sarah argued. Before Casey could bite something back, Bryce groaned out of pain and frustration from having to hear the seniors agents have a verbal pissing match yet again.

"'Snot my fault..." Bryce said, feeling slightly light headed from losing blood. Fortunately, the wound on his head was starting to clot somewhat. "Here, lift me up."

"What?" Sarah asked, not sure what the young man was getting at.

"It's in my backpocket... I can't reach." Bryce said, his breathing labored and his eyes closing and shutting repeatedly. Casey and Sarah looked at each other uncertainly before Casey grabbed Bryce under his arms and hoisted him to lean against a wall. "Ahh!" Bryce hissed as the movement brought renewed pain to his already sore noggin.

"What do you got?" Casey asked, curious as to why Bryce had been asked to be moved when already in so much distress.

Bryce wrestled with something in his back pocket before pulling out an instrument, nay, a weapon, used to topple people as they were ran. Bryce handed it over to Sarah who analyzed the sturdy wire with the two weights attached to it with knitted eyebrows. "That's what took me down."

Sarah handed it over to Casey, pointing to an etching on one of the weights. She turned to Bryce. "Did you see the person who threw it?"

Bryce shook his head but winced again. "No, but I traced the insignia with my fingers a couple times. I didn't recognize it."

"Neither do we, which means it wouldn't be in the CIA's database." Sarah said with a furtive look at the weapon.

"But if this just happened, that means the person who threw it could still be in the area." Casey said, gripping the tripping device tightly in his hand and throwing it to the floor. He turned to Sarah as if communicating a plan.

"Let's go." The two agents stood up and Bryce looked up at them with pain-filled blue eyes.

"Wait... Take me with you," the younger man said with his best pleading expression. "I need to know who threw that and why they attacked me."

Sarah knelt down again, sweeping one of Bryce's brown locks out of his hair. "The only thing you need to worry about is getting better."

"Yeah, we can't have you bleeding all over the seats anyway," Casey spoke up, the ever present misanthropist.

Sarah pursed her lips angrily, not even looking at her partner as she continued, "Ellie and Devin will take care of you until we get back."

"So stay out of trouble until then, capeesh?" Bryce turned his head down, feeling hopeless and lacking the energy to think up a good protest. Finally he nodded before Sarah laid a kiss on his cheek.

"You'll be okay. I'm sorry," she said before standing up to join Casey. On their way out the door, they ran into the two doctors and a frantic-looking Chuck. Luckily, thinking on her feet, Sarah already had a lie in place for this situation. "We have to pick up his meds from the hospital. Everytime he gets hurt like this it irritates sever migraines later on. We don't want to put him through even more pain."

Ellie and Devin nodded in understanding, more focused on trying to help Bryce than the business of his parents. The other couple raced out the frontdoor, already pulling out several tracking instruments and weapons on their way to the car.

Bryce couldn't tell what happened after that. He was in and out of consciousness so much, only stirring to a semblance of alertness when Devin had picked him up and carried his light form inside and over to the couch.

Once he was nestled on the cushions, it was about thirty minutes of mending before Ellie had stitched him up, bandaged the wound, and rested a plastic ice-pack upon his head. Once the cold reached his throbbing temple, Bryce blinked his eyes quickly, feeling the blackness slip over his vision once again.

"Bryce, honey, stay with me." Ellie urged him, looking concernedly at her young patient.

"C'mon, bud, you gotta stay awake," Devin agreed to Bryce's chagrin. Didn't they understand that it _hurt _for him to be conscious? And here Bryce thought Chuck's guardians were _nice_ compared to Sarah and Casey! "Stay with us, all right? Just watch some TV until we're sure you'll be okay."

Bryce wanted to whine that TV would definitely not make the situation any less unbearable but decided to hold his tongue for the time being. It was obvious some terrible being was out to make his life miserable and he just had to accept the fact that his future lied in the hands of a celestial bastard that loved to see him in pain.

"Don't worry, guys, you may be doctors but television is _my _specialty." Chuck said and Bryce looked up to see the other boy holding a DVD in his hand, looking smugly at Ellie and Devin. Devin lightly punched Chuck in the shoulder before stepping into the dining room to clean up their abandoned dinner. Ellie looked sternly at Chuck.

"No, funny business, Chuck. I'm serious. Bryce was just hurt," said Ellie, pointing a finger at Bryce as if he were a defenseless mute.

"Sis, please, who do you think you're talking to?" Chuck scoffed. "I am _the masta_ of nerdy, non-physical activities."

Ellie smirked, fondly shaking her head at her hilarious, albeit dorky, little brother. "Still. Don't get too excited." As she walked off, Chuck continued to spout off reassurances.

"Don't worry. We'll just be in here. Watching a boring, non-heart pumping film. Toootally dull…" Chuck spied until Ellie was out of sight before spinning to show Bryce his treasure. "Are you ready for TRON?"

Bryce had flinched from Chuck's manic outburst but after seeing the undeniable excitement on Chuck's face, the blue eyed young man decided to go along with the "geek-out". "Hell yeah, man, let's do it!" Truthfully, he had never even heard of the movie…

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**A/N:** Reviews make me glad and not sad, like the trash bags. So drop one in this dumpster today! (okay, bad, bad pun…)


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** People, I am loving the reviews that actually _get_ what this story is about. Yeah! It only took 5 chapters later! Cream of the crop, that's what I'm calling you guys. (nods)

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The time was now 11:47pm and Chuck and Bryce were on the edge of their seats at the climax of the movie. When the screen faded black to the credits, Bryce couldn't help the "Whoa." escaping from his lips. It was probably the best movie he'd ever witnessed.

"Right?" Chuck breathed, equally flabbergasted (though this was likely his fortieth viewing).

Bryce lay back on the couch, by now completely forgetting about his head injury aside from a twinge of pain whenever he raised his eyebrows. Devin had come in to check on him twice before being shooed away by the two movie-entranced teenagers.

"Dude, what time is it?" Bryce asked, his eyes itching with tiredness, this time not from exhaustion and not the injury.

Chuck got up from the couch and started packing up his prized DVD. He checked the clock on the side table while he was there. "It's almost midnight. It sure does take your parents a long time to get that medicine." As Chuck reflected on this oddity, he noticed a strange device that lay near the tense Bryce's feet.

Bryce, scouring his mind for an answer, finally developed an acceptable lie, "It's a pretty rare drug. Some might even say it was illegal." Bryce closed his eyes tightly in firm regret. _Did I just cover up a lie with an even more suspicious one?_

The young man waited for Chuck to call him on this one but nothing came. Bryce turned to the other boy, not expecting the blank, twitchy-eyed look he was giving the wall.

"Chuck?" Bryce asked, waving a hand in front of his dead expression. He caught sight of something in Chuck's hand, and his eyes widened in utter shock. He found the trip wire! "Oh, God…"

Finally, Chuck seemed to snap out of whatever la la land he decided to visit. A spiel of words tumbled out of his mouth shortly after: "Fulcrum is a rogue agency designed to help criminals defeat the bonds of the NSA, CIA, and FBI at all costs." Chuck turned to Bryce, his expression twice as panicked as the junior agent's. "What? What did I-? How did I know that?"

Bryce opened and closed his mouth, his mind buzzing with possible theories but only one hold true. "You really are the Intersect." Said Bryce with breathless awe.

"Inter-what now?" he stared in terror at Bryce, who looked like he had just discovered a mythological creature. Chuck put some distance between him and the other boy, putting his hands out in surrender. "Look, I'm-I'm-I'm not anybody. I'm just Chuck Bartowski."

Bryce shook his head. "No, Chuck, put it all together. It's the only reason you knew how to pass those tests and how you knew who this insignia belonged to." The blue-eyed young man explained, holding up the trip wire for proof.

Questions along the lines of "How do I get away from this deranged guy?" were plaguing Chuck's thoughts, but he had to admit, even he couldn't explain his recent brain anomalies with any amount of rhyme or reason.

"Let's go upstairs to your room. In my backpack are your test results. They'll explain everything." Bryce spoke calmly and quietly. He didn't know who was listening but if this "Fulcrum" group was anything that Chuck said they were, there was no fault in covering all his bases.

Shell-shocked by this abrupt turn of events, Chuck led the way to his bedroom, his face a mask of stoic dread. As they climbed the stairs, they ran into Ellie on her way to get a glass of water.

After she gave Chuck's bizarre expression a puzzled look, her eyes rolled in annoyance. "Chuck, you've seen TRON nearly a thousand times. I thought you got over its awesomeness by now." When she spotted Bryce in tow, she asked him how he was feeling.

"Doing great. Can't even feel it," Bryce said, trying to act natural in light of his current predicament. Ellie nodded slowly, heeding that Bryce still take it easy before resuming her trek down the stairs.

Once they made it into Chuck's room-a mess of posters and other geeky artifacts-Bryce closed the door slowly, listening for any sounds. When he was sure nobody was coming or had followed him, he turned around to see Chuck staring at him with wide eyes.

"What. Is. Going. On, Bryce?" Chuck asked again, this time through gritted teeth.

Instead of answering verbally, Bryce knelt down in front of his backpack and pulled out the offended file with Chuck's information in it. As he handed it over, he decided to explain, "The CIA has been looking for a weapon known as the Intersect." Chuck accepted the folder and his eyes grew to saucers when he saw his picture and information in its contents. "It poses a major threat to their, and several other agencies, systems, but they think if they can find it first, they can rein in its power."

Chuck asked, his voice a little shaky, "But what does the Intersect do?"

"It has the power to remember every shred of governmental info and identify them in a series of 'flashes'." Chuck looked scared.

"You mean I have all the governments' secrets in my head?" he asked, disbelieving.

"Not all, but some." said Bryce, trying to remember the details. "The documentaries only contained around a few hundred images. The updated Intersect download is in the ten thousand image range."

"10 thou-" Chuck trailed off, his tone high**.** Chuck shook his head. "I still don't understand. How-how do you know all this?"

Okay, he should've seen this coming: the moment of truth. He fixed Chuck with an intense gaze and inhaled deeply. "Because, Chuck, I'm a secret agent."

Chuck's gaping mouth closed and his knitted eyebrows loosened and quirked upward at Bryce's words. Chuck bit down on his lip and snorted, trying to contain his amusement. Bryce, of course, noticed Chuck's feeble attempts and scowled darkly.

"I'm telling you the truth, Chuck," Bryce grounded out. He couldn't believe Chuck was reacting this way. He just blew his cover to the guy, and Chuck didn't even believe him!

Chuck patted him on the back, letting out a contented sigh after a minute-long laughing session. "Sure you are, Redford. Sure."

Bryce sat there, straight-backed, and looking affronted. "My name's not Redford either; It's Larkin." Bryce muttered but then quickly diverted his attention back to the immature argument. "And why is it so hard to believe that I'm an agent? If I a guy like you can be some powerful government weapon, why can't I be in the CIA?"

Chuck lifted his shoulders. "Well, we're the same age. And you don't look very intimidating..."

Bryce's eyes flashed at the words. "Are you trying to imply that I'm small?"

Chuck concluded that this was probably one of Bryce's bigger pet peeves and swung his head from side to side. "Not at all! I'm just saying, uh, you... Play such a good friend. Yeah! You're really too nice to be an agent."

Bryce rolled his eyes, knowing Chuck was just grasping at straws. Still, the air became lighter to the other boy's relief.

"Back to more important matter."

"Right, like, what now?" Chuck asked, suddenly anxious again, remembering he had some freaky weapon inside his head.

"That's the thing, Chuck. The CIA has set up this entire operation around you. We were told to find you and take you in." Bryce told him, watching Chuck's scared expression with an even stare.

"Wait, no, no, but that's not fair!" The other boy cried, sifting a hand through his unruly mane. "I didn't ask to have this thing in my head. Can't you guys just take it out and go on your merry way?"

Bryce sighed at the helpless young man's pleas. "I'm sorry, Chuck. We know so little about the Intersect, just that it is a threat that needs to be exterminated."

"Ex-exterminated?" Chuck gulped. That hadn't sounded pleasant at all and Bryce winced at the bad use of the word. "Bryce, I know we've only known each other for a short while, but... I'm only 17. I haven't even seen the last issue of the Spawn comics yet. Do you have any plans that involve me not dying a painful, young death?"

Bryce looked down, unsure of how to answer that. "I'm still working on the details, but I think I have one."

The news seemed to brighten Chuck's gloomy outlook somewhat. "Okay, one is better than nothing at all. Let's hear it, buddy!"

Bryce seemed wary to admit it and looked distractedly at the poster on Chuck's wall as he said the next "plan." "Well, hiding it from my superior agents has been working okay so far. I figure if I can delete all evidence of your being the Intersect, we'll eventually give up on the mission."

Chuck quirked his eyebrow at the other boy, laying a hand on his shoulder to get Bryce to look at him. "Uh, 'give up on the mission'? Does that happen at all?"

Bryce's blue eyes became very sad as he said, "No."

Chuck threw his hands up in the air. "Fantastic! So two teenage boys are just going to hide something from the CIA until they back off. That's either the most passive aggressive or stupidest idea I've ever heard."

Bryce's nostrils flared in vehemence. "Well, do you think it's going to be particularly easy for me to hide this shit from Agents Walker and Casey? They're the best of the best and they've been riding my tail about every little thing I've done wrong. Hiding this secret is just the ammunition Casey needs to get me thrown out of the agency for good!"

Chuck stared at Bryce with the utmost sympathy. The blue eyed boy dropped on top of the bed, covering his face with his hands in dread. Chuck couldn't even imagine how much weight Bryce was carrying on his shoulders, and he was the one running around with all the CIA secrets in his head!

Bryce felt the bed sink down beside him as Chuck sat down on the forest green comforter. He watched Chuck wringing his hands, looking up and obviously trying to find the words to console him.

"Look, I know that I said the idea was stupid, but-"

"That's because it is stupid… Not to mention, impossible." Bryce said, rubbing his eyes tiredly with his fingers. What time was it now anyway?

"I know, but I think we should at least try. Maybe by tampering with the test results, they'll see nothing's going on at Burbank High and just move on to the next state." Chuck shrugged, trying to appear hopeful.

"You do realize that that will mean I'll be stuck with Sarah and Casey, pretending to be a high school student for a very long time, right?" Bryce said, turning his head to stare at Chuck with a "get real" expression.

"Well, there are worse people to be stuck with for a few years, right?" Bryce began to contemplate this. He hadn't put much thought into the implications of hiding Chuck's test result because he was too concerned with how he was going to accomplish hiding it in the first place. Now, he was beginning to understand that Casey and Sarah could potentially be a semi-permanent fixture in his life if they happened to overlook the real Intersect on their first composite mission.

And Bryce wasn't sure how that exactly made him feel.

He had never had real parents before, and already, the past month had given a big enough taste that he knew that it was annoying as hell to have two adults breathing down your neck at every curve and turn. But, at the same time, it was comforting, and Bryce found an almost secure warmth in the way Casey and Sarah watched over them.

Maybe keeping Chuck's secret would bring him more than a peace of mind that he was helping a sincerely innocent guy… But gain him a second chance at being an average teenager. Well, as average as he could be with doing a bunch of CIA protocol in his spare time.

Perhaps, Chuck was right. There could be worse people out there….

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**A/N:** Is there Chuck? Is there? I like talking to my characters after I end chapters with lame clichés. But you guys like them, _right?_ Oh, no! Wait! Hold that thought. Press the button below this, and type your answer. Don't forget to press submit, too! Ahh, you just gave me a review and it feels _so good_!


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Well, here's a nice long chapter. Sorry for the wait. I've been getting seriously annoyed with this story because everything I've written for it keeps getting fuggin' deleted! AGH! Sucks to be alive! Just kidding, sorta.

Anyway, here we go…

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"You better not be falling asleep back there…" Casey reminded, putting the binoculars down to glance into the back of the van. Bryce started, bumping his head on the hard, metal shelving unit that was holding some of the various spy equipment. He winced, rubbing the throb out of the top of his crown.

"Not anymore," Bryce grumbled, climbing closer to the front of the van to survey the subject of their stakeout. Sarah looked back at him, a smile playing on her lips. She had her hair up in a ponytail and a catalogue on new spy equipment in her lap. Casey had his own magazine close by, entitled "Guns and Ammo." It seemed like everyone had prepared for the stakeout, except for him, hence why he was currently fighting to stay awake. "Has anything happened yet?"

Sarah shook her head, dog-earring the page she was on and setting the catalogue aside. "Nothing much. As far as we can tell, Shaw's just sitting there, reading a book."

She yawned at the routine situation, so Casey finished the update for her. "He hasn't gotten any phone calls, no visitors; guy's starting to look like just another average Joe."

"Where'd we find this guy then?" Bryce asked, picking up one of the binoculars off the immaculate floor of the van.

"The General gave us the update on him. Said he's ex-CIA and had shown a particular interest in the Intersect in his time with the agency." Casey said, flipping to the middle of the magazine and stroking the large machine gun on the centerfold as if it were some gorgeous woman. Bryce quirked his eyebrow at the man's eccentric behavior and turned his head to Sarah when she spoke up.

"We're just doing a routine follow up, making sure he hasn't caught wind of the Intersect operation." Sarah's words struck a chord of guilt with Bryce, and he sat back into the van with a furrowed brow and contemplative look on his face.

So this guy Shaw was trying to get to the Intersect? Maybe getting rid of the evidence of the test results wouldn't be good enough. There was still so much more about the Intersect that was out of his hands, problems he didn't even know about yet! The stress of thinking about how he could protect Chuck from every Intersect-related problem was beginning to sound impossible. Bryce prided himself on being brave and ready to withstand everything, but nobody could fight off something this big, not by themselves anyway.

"Looks like we're taking a trip," Casey announced, gesturing with two fingers to the house lights being turned off and a tall, handsome man in a fitted, long sleeved cotton shirt exiting towards his car. Bryce warily watched the man through his binoculars. He looked built like a brick wall and about the same height as Casey but with a paler skin tone, raven-black hair, and dark eyebrows that looked severe on his fair pallor. Suffice it to say that his formidable stature did nothing to calm young Bryce Larkin's already frayed nerves.

"I'll do surveillance around the perimeter. You tail Shaw. Call me when you're ready to reconnoiter." Casey nodded at Sarah's instructions.

Before she left the car, Casey called after her, "Agent Walker." She turned to her partner with a distracted look on her face. "Be careful."

Smiling a little, she smiled, "You too. Keep Bryce out of trouble, too."

Bryce wanted to remind her that he could very well take care of himself, but was too preoccupied by the strange interaction between Sarah and Casey. Was there something… ?No. No way. Bryce was positive that anything that he was sensing between the two agents was just all in his head.

After Sarah left, Bryce reluctantly crawled into the passenger seat beside the older man. He still wasn't very comfortable with Casey, but at least could operate semi-civilly with the man now.

Casey put the car into drive, keeping a vigilant eye on the sleek black Lincoln sedan as it pulled out of the driveway of the upper middle-class, suburban neighborhood. Casey kept a good distance away from the car in front of him.

"You don't know how much I love this van," Casey commented. Bryce was so focused on the car in front of him, caught up so deeply in his own thoughts that he hadn't even realized that a miracle had just occurred: Casey had just initiated a conversation.

Bryce fumbled with a reply, trying to get over his initial stunned silence, "Oh-oh yeah?"

"Yeah, driving around in that clown car called the Nerd Herder has been cramping my legs… As well as my style." Casey said, rounding a corner twenty seconds after Shaw's car did.

"Oh come on, Casey, you never had style to get cramped in the first place," Bryce didn't realize the jab had even escaped his lips before it was too late. He flicked his eyes over in Casey's direction, a small amount of hostility sparking in his eyes, taken aback to find that Casey was actually smirking at the comment.

"Maybe so, but at least I know I've got more than those idiots working at the BuyMore," the hulkish, older agent grumbled and Bryce tilted his head in interest.

"You've got a handful of morons to work with, too?" Bryce asked, a couple of his own idiotic classmates flashing in memory.

"Try a barrel. Jeff and Lester being their idiot kings. I'm tempted to put a bounty on their heads, if only to get them out of my hair," Casey smirked at the thought of the bliss he'd receive from framing his two foolish BuyMore coworkers.

"Ah, the old 'framing the annoying guys' trick. The feeling is mutual," Bryce said, getting him another miraculous smile out of the usually stoic Agent Casey.

"Think we've finally arrived at our destination," Casey pointed out, nodding towards the building in front of him. Bryce was surprised at how quickly they got there and turned to see Shaw's brake lights shining a small distance away before they vanished into the dimly-lit parking garage. Casey shut off his own lights before pulling next to the concrete curb a short ways out of sight.

Once the engine was killed, Casey settled back into his seat, his hands folding into his lap patiently. A bewildered Bryce just stared at him in confusion.

"So… We're just going to sit here then?" Bryce asked, slightly disappointed. After being grounded for over a week, Bryce had to be honest that he was actually excited at the thought of doing some form of spy work.

"Those were our orders," Casey affirmed and Bryce's face fell as he sat back in his seat, his arms folded.

"I'm trying to see the use of us following this guy in the first place," Bryce said, fiddling with his cell phone to get the camera application to work.

Casey fidgeted a bit, evidently also disconcerted at staying at an arm's distance from the potential secret base of one Daniel Shaw. He too had been getting restless from the lack of interesting missions. "Sometimes these things don't make sense. That's the life of a spy."

Bryce sighed, sinking into a quiet. The young man positioned the camera in front of the sign on the parking garage's entrance and snapped a few shots of the exterior for later study. The company was named "PatriTec" but it was likely just a cover for something more sinister. While examining the pictures, Bryce decided to ask, "Casey… If you could give up the life of the spy for the one you're living now, would you?"

Casey didn't answer right away, and Bryce was starting to wonder if the man had really heard him, when he finally replied, "I'm not sure."

Bryce quirked his head at the answer, not knowing that it was possible for Casey to be unsure of anything.

"There's perks to both of them, you know? Though I think it'd take me longer to get used to the life of a civilian." Bryce gave an understanding nod.

"I guess you're right. On one hand you'd be getting to live the life you want to with whoever you want to live it with, but on the other, you end up helping a lot of people who couldn't do it for themselves." Bryce said, holding up two hands to try to signify his weight system. "Just not sure what I want more of sometimes."

Casey nodded and with a smirk, agreed, "The feeling is mutual."

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"Yep, and then we found that he had almost drowned himself in the bathtub!" Casey laughed along with Devon at the retelling of a bogus story about Bryce's childhood. Bryce was noticeably scowling at the older man. Just when he thought he had a good heart to heart with the man, the older agent would ruin it with his own callous words.

Sarah walked over to him, slipping her arm through Bryce's own and started leading him past the crowd of people and towards the punch bowl of the school auditorium. _Damage control…_ Bryce thought bitterly with an irritated smirk.

The family of Redford and Whitcomb were gathered on the large basketball court with about forty other parents and students who were invited to Burbank High's Open House. Bryce still didn't see the use in having parents come to a stupid event to get an update on their child's progress when an email would work just as well.

All the same, it was an excuse to finally talk to Chuck, which Bryce still hadn't been able to since his grounding two weeks ago. Each morning he asked Sarah and Casey when he'd be able to stop the stupid confinement from house and school, and each morning they told him, "We'll see."

Bryce gritted his teeth as Sarah filled a plastic cup with punch and started sipping it. "He's just kidding around, Bryce. You know that."

Bryce still didn't look convinced as he started flippantly filling his own cup with punch. "Whatever. He's leaving out the part that I had been tied up and beaten within an inch of consciousness when I almost 'drowned' in that bathtub."

Sarah laughed, ruffling Bryce's shaggy hair. She looked over his shoulder and her eyes lit up at the sight of the lanky boy in the distance. "Go say hi to your friend. That's Chuck over there, right? You haven't talked to him in awhile."

Bryce tuned his head and spotted Chuck near the auditorium entrance, awkwardly making his way over to the bleachers to find a better spot to play his handheld video game. "Yeah, I'll see you later." Sarah laid a light peck on his cheek, and he started towards Chuck.

Chuck looked pleased to see Bryce when the shorter young man sat down beside him. "Hey, buddy, how's it been hanging?"

Bryce faked a smile and shrugged, not wanting to reveal how the circumstances had really been shaping up. "Okay. I think we should get a move on if we're going to get those test results altered anytime tonight."

Chucks expression suddenly went from calm to anxious. "Wow, you just go right into that mission stuff, huh?"

"Yeah well, right now this mission is the least of our worries. Come on," Bryce said and started walking towards the wide hallway of lockers, out the doors of the auditorium. Chuck, bewildered and fretful, trailed after him clumsily.

"What-what do you mean by that? Bryce! Bryce." Chuck, being a bit taller than Bryce, was able to catch up with the other young man and lay a placating hand on the junior agent's shoulder. Bryce finally mustered the strength to turn around from his hasty trek and look in Chuck's concerned brown eyes.

"'Msorry, Chuck. But I'm just dealing with a lot of stuff right now." Bryce admitted, a flash of vulnerability in his eyes, making him look suddenly worn out.

"It's okay. I get it, wait, okay… Maybe I don't get it, this whole spy thing. But you should know that I'm here for you, buddy. There's a reason there's two of us on this mission." Chuck reminded him, making Bryce believe him for a moment there. But who was Bryce kidding? People like Shaw were always going to be out there, and Bryce would always feel like he would never be enough to protect Chuck. Still, the newly-revealed Intersect should know what he was up against.

Bryce pulled out his cell phone, showing a picture of Daniel Shaw to the other young man. Chuck looked like he was getting really dizzy for a second there before he looked sober again. Bryce quirked an eyebrow before speaking, "This is Daniel-"

"Daniel Shaw. Ex-CIA. Used to be heavily involved in the Intersect Project before he was demoted to civilian status after some shady software thefts were uncovered, which the CIA was able to trace back to him."

Chuck stated in a monotone, memorized fashion. Chuck blinked a couple of times and then turned to Bryce, looking more focused. "Is all that true? Would he really be after me?"

"If you flashed on it from the test Intersect, than probably. They included a lot of old CIA documents in the exam they presented in the Bio lab." Bryce explained as Chuck looked more carefully at the dark-eyed, chiseled-featured face on the screen of Bryce's cell phone. Chuck flicked his finger across the screen when he arrived at an image of the parking garage. His eyes crossed again and he wavered a little on the spot. Once more, Bryce looked at him in confusion before realization hit him. "Are you flashing again?"

Of course, Chuck didn't answer until he let out a heavy breath of air. "Whoa. Wow. Okay, this parking garage. Where is it?"

"Umm, somewhere on Fourth Street and Union Boulevard," Bryce recounted from his stakeout with Casey three nights before.

"Do they have like a weird white room filled with dozens of tiny TV screens?" Chuck asked, snapping his fingers, trying to define just what he saw from the Intersect flash.

Bryce shook his head to the negative. "I don't know. Casey and I didn't go inside." He added the last part with a tinge of resentment.

"Well, I don't know much about those offices there now, but the CIA obviously thought it was suspicious at the time. The flash had a lot of old pictures of its activities before the technology was seized." Chuck explained and comprehension was starting to dawn on Bryce's youthful features.

"That must've been the old project Shaw was working on-The thing that got him kicked out of the CIA a few years ago." Bryce said, looking searchingly down at the floor, as if probing it for more information. "He must've been trying to build another Intersect. But why?

Chuck shook his head, still fixated on getting answers to his own burning questions. "But do you really think he'd just start building another Intersect in the same place after the CIA already knows about it?"

"Maybe he figures it will be the last place they'll look?" Bryce shrugged, unsure of the man's intentions himself. There was still a heavy haze on the actions of Daniel Shaw, and it was starting to give the young agent a painful headache. "For now, let's just focus on getting those records deleted."

The two young men started their way across the high school's campus, into the basement of the library where a girl around their age was seated. She was reading a hefty-sized book and twirling one of her tightly braided ponytails. "Can I help you?" she asked, giving the two boys a quizzical look.

They definitely didn't look like they belonged down there in the restricted access section. Unfortunately, Chuck took this as his cue to break out his own spy "techniques", as he leant casually against the counter of the wooden information desk. "Charmichael. Charles Carmichael. We were sent down here by Dr. Freeman to get the statistics on last week's AIMS testing results."

"I'm going to need to see some formal consent." The girl said, pushing the thick-rimmed glasses up on her pointy, freckled nose.

Chuck made a show of panicking at the words "formal consent" so Bryce pushed him aside to lay on the real charm. Her attitude seemed to do a complete 360 at the sight of the blue-eyed, handsome young man, working hard to flirt his way to access the test codes.

Five minutes later, they had the admission codes to the computer's test records and were on their way to the commons in the back of the room. Chuck was mocking the last few lines of Bryce's conversation with the nerdy, young librarian.

"Oh, thank you, Miss Pewter. It's a pleasure to be working with someone so skilled in the art of bookkeeping." Chuck stuck out his tongue as if the sentence left a bad taste in his mouth.

Bryce rolled his eyes as he sat himself in front of the partitioned desktop computer. "You're just jealous that your 'Charles Carmichael' didn't work the way you thought it would. You do realize that James Bond is a fictional character, not a real spy."

Chuck sneered at him, sitting on the other side of Bryce. "Fine, you may have an advantage with the wining and dining, but this computer? Gotcha covered."

"Whatever, nerd," Bryce replied, smiling good-naturedly and sitting back to allow the geek full pilot of the keyboard and mouse.

Chuck took the paper of codes from Bryce, popped his knuckles spiritedly, and began typing them into the computer. After some minutes of clicking and odd mumbling, Chuck let out a triumphant, "Ah ha!"

Bryce, who had been quizzically watching the exchange between user and computer, came to attention at Chuck's noise. "Did you find them?" Bryce sometimes had a hard time keeping up with technology, barely keeping up with anything Chuck had typed onto the screen.

"Yeah, pretty sure. Okay!" Chuck said, pressing the return key with a final clack. "That's the last of them. Surprisingly easy."

Bryce wanted to say something but settled on an apprehensive, "Yeah, I guess…"

After they shut down the computer, they began making their way back down the hallway towards the auditorium, Bryce giving a half-hearted farewell to the love struck librarian who waved back at him enthusiastically. As they exited, they passed two suspicious men in black, who Bryce recognized from his International Identities training as being Slovakian. _Foreigners? At Burbank High?_ Bryce thought to himself. Upon further examination, he noticed a glint of a weapon in the older man's coat pocket, immediately setting off all mental alarms in Bryce's head.

Once the men entered the library, Bryce pushed an oblivious Chuck down an adjacent hallway, peaking over the corner and into the record's office.

"What's going on? Was something wrong with those creepy guys we passed in the hall?"

Bryce momentarily switched his attention from the guys to Chuck's question, looking hopeful and urgent, "Why? Did you flash on something?"

Chuck seemed embarrassed, answering timidly, "Not really. They, just, uh, looked kinda scary?"

Bryce growled, seeing he would get no help from the so-called Intersect. His blue eyes sharpened in concentration as they approached the young librarian at the counter. After a short exchange, she turned to her right and, upon spotting him peaking over the corner, pointed him out to the two threatening men. Bryce immediately slammed back up against the wall but knew it had been too late. They had already caught sight of him.

He turned to find Chuck, who looked positively terrified. Bryce didn't have time for another one of his friend's panic attacks, and so clearly enunciated the next few words.

"Chuck, find Sarah and Casey." That was all he was able to get out before the two men grabbed him from behind, eliciting a high shriek from Chuck's end. "Chuck! Hurry!" Bryce cried, already slipping out of the suffocating grasp with a proper kick to the head.

Previously frozen with fear, Chuck finally found the will to move his legs after seeing the second, larger man land a particularly nasty blow to Bryce's head. Even after the unexpected attack, the young agent was able to hold his ground, even countering with a flip against the wall that allowed him the leverage to pounce onto the man's back and twist the Russian's head at a painfully lethal angle.

"What did you fuckin' do!" the other man cried, getting up from the floor. He eyed his still partner, lying lifelessly on the floor at Bryce's feet. Bryce simply shrugged. It wasn't the first time the brunette teen had killed someone. Especially one so intent on killing him.

The other man didn't care though and began charging towards Bryce with a roar at a speed much faster than Bryce expected for a man of his size. The young man tried a feint to the right, but the other Russian seemed to expect this, grabbing Bryce by the torso and tackling him with great strength to the floor, exuding a loud crack.

"Gah!" The teen cried, pain igniting through his body. The man smiled atop of him, thinking he won, and thus not anticipating the young man to slide out from underneath him, planting his feet against the wall behind him, and launching himself like a missile in the man's direction. Yes, Bryce had been trained in the art of parkoor, therefore the world was his playground.

"Oomph!" The man fell in a heap to the ground, Bryce laying into him with the merciless rain of his fists. The young man was able to get in two solid strikes before the Russian grabbed Bryce by the arm and twisted it painfully to the side. With his wrist being manipulated at such a dangerous angle, Bryce was able to be guided in any direction the man please. Bryce winced as the man rose from his position off the ground before using his large rubber boot to land a harsh kick to the young man's still sore side. Bryce crashed into the adjoining wall, his head smacking against the taupe plaster.

Bryce's focus was moving in and out as the man, in all of his menacing glory, began plodding closer to him. The teen couldn't deny the fact that he was truly scared at that moment, and he hated himself for it. Just about ready to relinquish his hold on consciousness, if only to spare him from the pain that was about to strike, Bryce thought he saw two blurs rushing behind the man that looked oddly Sarah and Casey-shaped.

The relief that flooded through him was enough to grant him some semblance of wakefulness. He watched as Casey rushed over and manhandled the Russian in a hold that would surely sprain his wrists while Sarah roundhouse kicked him with enough force to knock him unconscious.

_Huh, she'll have to teach me how to do that sometime..._ Bryce thought absently to himself, still trying to garner the strength to stay awake. His head continued to pulsate from the impact it sustained. His eyes drifted into the back of his head, but a few sharp slaps on his cheeks, courtesy of Casey, brought him back. When he opened his bright blue eyes again, the brunette teen found Sarah and Casey staring at him with a mix of concern and confusion.

"Bryce, who were those men?" Sarah asked him, and although she had one of the calmest, prettiest voices Bryce had ever heard, nothing could have sounded more grating.

Bryce lulled his head to the side to give her. "Can we just-Can we just not ask questions right now and get outta here?" he swallowed, feeling as if bile was rising in his throat from his stomach injury. "I need to sleep..."

"Whoa, whoa-" Casey said, catching Bryce's slumping form in his hands and pushing the younger agent back into an upright position. He gently widened one of Bryce's eyelids, assessing the situation of the teen's coherence. "Stay with us, Larkin. Looks like you got a mild concussion."

Bryce nodded, not really caring, just wishing he could succumb to the darkness now that he knew his two saviors would keep him safe. It was nice, knowing that he actually had someone to count on, someone to watch his back. He was doubly lucky because he now had two. Bryce must have been more injured than he thought because he was now giving a dopey grin to both agents, and, against his better judgment, he collapsed into the dark.

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**A/N:** Hey, you. See these typos? All mine. Yep, 100%, genuine, author-errored. Pshaw, you don't see typos like that unless you really aren't paying attention to how you type.

Seriously though, I need a beta, but I'm too lazy to look. Anybody interested right off the bat? Hm…?


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Soo, no takers on the beta position? Okay, all right, that's cool. It was more for your sake than mine. Enjoy this chapter and don't forget to reviiieeeeeewwwww!

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When Bryce returned to the land of the living, he found himself being carried into the agents' humble Columbian style home by Casey. The mortification of this was hardly recognized, for the only thing that registered to the young agent was just how much pain he was in.

Sooner than Bryce would think possible, Sarah and Casey had set him down on the counter and were already cleaning up his wide array of bruises, scrapes, and broken ribs. Sweat rose on his brow and he struggled to keep a brave face, but the pain became too much and a cry escaped his lips as Casey began poking and prodding at his battered torso.

A hand found its way into his and squeezed hard. "You're okay, Bryce. Just keep breathing," Sarah voice told him gently. Bryce couldn't understand why such a simple action could calm him so, marginally lessening the pain, but it had.

Bryce inhaled sharply as Casey rubbed some healing salve over the angry bruises that spread across his back and sides. After, he tightly wrapped a roll of gauze around the young man's abdomen in hopes that it would prevent the few cracked ribs from getting any worse.

Now that his ribs weren't bothering him as much, Bryce was able to breathe more evenly and become more aware of his surroundings. He looked outside and saw it was now quite late, perhaps around midnight from what Bryce inferred through the window. He watched as Casey switched from his abdomen to his head, dabbing disinfectant on the irritated cut that peaked out through his hairline. He winced, grasping Sarah's hand again before the stinging passed quickly.

He sighed again, knowing the worst was over, and looked down at Sarah's hand in his. She let go at his quizzical stare, thinking he was uncomfortable with it, and laid a hand on his shoulder instead, "Here's a stupid question, but how do you feel?"

Bryce didn't dare nod or shake his head, therefore he spoke his answer, "Better than a few hours ago, but still in a lot of pain." His throat felt very raw, and Sarah walked over to the cabinet to get him a glass of water. Upon returning, she handed it to him and watched him hungrily down the entire tumbler in three large gulps.

As Casey butterfly-bandaged the wound on his head, Bryce could see the older agent was struggling with the obvious elephant in the room: Who were the men who did this to him?

"If you don't want to tell us, we'll understand," Sarah told him, reading his conflicted expression. Both Bryce and Casey's heads snapped up to stare at the confounding woman.

"We will?" Casey asked and Sarah glowered at the man. Casey only cleared his throat and refocused his hands on the task of mending Bryce's injuries.

"No, you should know…" Byce admitted, avoiding any eye contact. "Those are Shaw's men," Bryce confessed, looking down at the floor as he spoke. And, although he could hear audible gasps from both senior agents, he didn't care because it felt so good to get the weight of these secrets finally off his chest.

"How do you know that?" Casey finally asked, his eyes squinting at Bryce in uncertainty.

Bryce took a deep breath. This was the moment of truth, the admission that could literally make or break him. If he told them about Chuck and they brought his friend in, Bryce would never be able to forgive himself. But… Oddly enough, Bryce felt that he could trust these people. Like him, they had broken families, and like him, the end of the day always meant they had done something to help people. And that was the reason Sarah, Casey, and he had joined the CIA in the first place.

Hopefully this leap of faith would be the right thing to do.

"Because Chuck Bartowski… is the Intersect you've been looking for." Bryce said, his hands gripping his knees and his vision stoically set on the ground.

He didn't have to look at their expressions to know that they were shocked by the disclosure. Still, he chanced a glance at the two, instantly reading their awestruck gazes.

"How can you know this?" Sarah asked.

Oh boy, this would involve the part about telling them he lied about the test results. Bryce cringed childishly as he let the next part tumble out of his mouth, unabated, "I kinda… Hid the test results confirming Chuck as the Intersect from you guys."

"YOU DID WHAT!" Chuck and Sarah exploded at the same time.

Bryce's mind was telling him to abort the whole thing, but now he was too far in. If he didn't intervene somehow, get them to see the way he saw things, then the situation would get ugly really fast. "Listen, really listen for me for just a second."

Casey and Sarah sobered up for the time being. Even they had to admit the kid was pretty brave to stand up to them like this, especially with news this big.

"I know you guys don't know Chuck the way I do, but he's a good guy… One of the best, actually. And he's 17, like me, and he's just figured out that he's got a lot of confidential government secrets floating around in his head."

"-Wait a sec, he knows about the Intersect in his head?" Casey interrupted, and Sarah sent him a lethal glare that caused him to shrug. "What? I'm just asking."

Bryce nodded, his chilling blue eyes flickering uncertainly to the two agents. "Yeah, and he's scared… And I don't blame him. If the NSA and CIA find out about this then he probably won't see his family ever again. And Chuck doesn't have a whole lot of family left to hold on to. My choice was made for me to be a part of this operation and now… Now, I'll never see my family again…"

The young man couldn't be sure but he thought he saw a flicker of understanding in the Colonel's eyes. Sarah, on the other hand, looked utterly crestfallen at the boy's words.

"And I'll die before I let anyone bear the weight of that decision again." Bryce swore solemnly, adding an eerie mood to the room that sent chills up even the two hardened agents' spines.

"Okay," Sarah broke the air with her soothing voice, causing both Casey and Bryce to break out of their contemplative reveries. "We'll help you protect him."

Casey shot his head up for a second time at her words, "We'll do _what_?"

Bryce was conflicted on how he should be feeling when the two agents seemed to butt heads like this. Sarah and Casey were just staring at each other, having an intense battle of wits with just two intent gazes.

Finally, Casey turned, his eyes shut tightly as if Sarah had released a laser of heat from her own gaze. "Agh, fine…. We'll protect the twerp." He grumbled reluctantly.

Bryce wanted to jump off the counter in elation, but then he realized how much pain he was still in.

"Ow." Bryce couldn't stop from escaping his lips, drawing both the strained attention of Sarah and Casey.

"C'mon, let's get you into bed," Casey said, proffering a hand to help Bryce down from the counter (as if he were really _that _short).

Bryce accepted otherwise, but still maintained a quizzical look to both agents. "But- Aren't we going to talk about this? You know, the whole 'we're now protecting Chuck' thing we just agreed on?"

"Yeah, well, you're not much use to us when you're feverish like this." Casey said, putting a hand to Bryce's head. The young man actually registered the chill the action brought to him. How had a fever set in so quickly...?

Sarah nodded, "Casey's right, Bryce, we can talk about this tomorrow. For now, get some rest; Casey and I will finish up the details this evening."

Bryce nodded, swaying a little on his feet. Fortunately, Casey's firm hold on his arm allowed him the balance to make it the rest of the way to his room. After the older male agent closed the door, Bryce slowly changed into his sleep clothes and laid his head down to rest, shivering from the slight fever.

Even in his less-than-stellar state, Bryce could still sleep peacefully knowing that Chuck would finally be taken care of.

XxxxXXXxxxX

Bryce rose early the next morning, feeling achy and wobbly, but still resilient to hear what the agents had decided on about Chuck.

He was happy to see that Sarah and Casey were already up, going over case notes and making breakfast in the kitchen, and made his way downstairs to greet them.

The young man was quite surprised at the agreement they'd come up with in only one night's work. After being seated at the table, Sarah and Casey sat down to outline what their plan of action would be in Chuck's protection and Bryce's role in the process.

"First, we'll have to maintain the same familial unit we do now," Sarah said. This news seemed to halt Bryce right in his tracks. Maintain the same covers? As a family? For an inordinate amount of time? Okay, that was definitely something that Bryce was going to have to consider later. Right now, he was more concerned about Chuck's wellbeing than his own.

"Next, we've developed a strategy to safeguard ourselves against NSA and CIA intrusion, so we'll start setting up for that later this week," Casey said, seeming quite satisfied with this part of the plan.

"We'll also be setting up a secure perimeter around the Bartowski house as well." Sarah informed the young man.

"Wow." Bryce could only say in surprise. "I honestly didn't think you guys would be so supportive of this plan."

"Well, I didn't exactly jump on the idea," Casey muttered, and Sarah cast him a knowing look. The older agent sighed. "Nonetheless, I could… Understand where you were coming from. The CIA is no place for a teenager, especially when it means leaving your family behind."

Bryce felt a bit like he was in the Twilight Zone. Did Casey, who usually had the emotional capacity of a grizzly bear, really say all that Bryce just heard him say?

_Well, he'd seen stranger things, especially this week._

After that, they got back to more details about covering up this covert mission to protect Chuck from government and criminal dangers. Then it came to the difficult part: "Telling Bartowski" as Casey had put it.

"I can take care of that," Bryce piped up finally.

Casey and Sarah gave him distrusting stares. The pale skin and red eyes on the boy did nothing to support Bryce's case that he was well enough to brief Chuck on the new details.

"Look, I promise I won't 'strain' myself talking to Chuck about the new arrangements." Bryce told them, a slight roll in his eyes. The agents were already taking their semi-permanent position as his parents too seriously.

Sarah nodded. "Okay, go get dressed and stop by next door. Casey and I are going to start hooking up the security cameras out back."

Bryce nodded to the woman, feeling invigorated despite his fevered condition. Things were already falling into place. After he told Chuck what was going on, they could finally sit back and be a real/fake family, closely monitoring the boy next door…

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**A/N:** Oh no, that is definitely NOT the end. There is still a lot more mystery and action we gotta get into. This was just one of those calms before the store type deals. If you like it, review! If you didn't, screw you, review anyway!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Thank you for all your kind words. They meant a lot! That's why you get this chapter so early- yay! Sorry if there are any typos. I've not gotten a permanent beta.

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Once changed into a fitted striped V-neck and dark blue jeans, Bryce strapped on his Converse shoes (a style he had in common with Chuck) and made his way over to the Bartowski-Whitcomb household.

As he knocked on the door, he noticed Awesome's car wasn't in the driveway, meaning his sister and borther-in-law were probably working at the hospital that day. Perfect. It took "avoiding any awkward confrontation with Ellie" out of the picture.

Chuck answered the door, looking more than relieved to see his dark-haired, blue-eyed friend still in one piece. "Bryce! Oh, buddy, am I glad to see you… Not in a casket."

Bryce crooked an eyebrow at the other boy, "Uhh, the feeling is mutual?"

Chuck smiled and stepped aside for the young man to come inside the cozily decorated living room. "Come on in. You should sit down; you're looking a little off."

"Yeah…" Bryce said, slightly irritated that everybody had become so concerned with his health recently. "Just been fighting a bit of a bug since the fight yesterday. Listen, we need to talk."

Chuck nodded, all-to-eagerly for more information. "Yeah, yeah, sure." He sat himself in the cloth-covered couch perpendicular to the one Bryce was in.

Bryce then preceded to explain to Chuck the new measures that would be taken in order to ensure his safety. "There are a lot of threats out there. A lot of people that would do anything to get their hands on your brain and figure out how it works."

"Is your team…?" Chuck left the question hanging while eyeing Bryce strangely.

"What?" Bryce asked. "No. No, Casey and Sarah are here to protect you. They'd gain virtually nothing by experimenting on the Intersect. But others will, and that's exactly what we hope to guard you against."

"Right," Chuck nodded, albeit apprehensively. He still didn't fully understand the details.

"Don't worry. Casey and Sarah are developing a way to keep you as safe as possible. They haven't really told me the small stuff yet, but all that will come later."

Chuck sighed, a small smile coming to his face. "Well, that's at least some reassurance… Hey, do you want a water or something? You really aren't looking too hot."

Bryce threw his head back, sighing out of exasperation and defeat. "Fine. Yes, a water would be fine. Anything to stop all of you people from pestering me."

Chuck laughed, disappearing into the kitchen. Bryce, with his head tilted back onto the couch, closed his eyes. His mind was finally free of the guilt and anxiety it had been harboring before he told Sarah and Casey about Chuck. He was happy for even this small relapse away from the spy stuff.

Suddenly, a smoke bomb sailed through the window pane, shattering its glass into pieces on the floor. The room immediately filled with toxic gas that had the feverish Bryce gasping and choking for air. Despite all his training, he couldn't fight the highly concentrated chemical or the men that grabbed him from behind and hauled him outside.

He managed to stay conscious long enough to remember being roughly dropped into the back of a van, catching an alarmed glimpse of Chuck over the shoulder of one of the burly men dressed in all black that had grabbed him. The doors of the vehicle shut quickly after that, and Bryce lay like a limp ragdoll on the floor as the smoke toxins took effect in his bloodstream. The boy coughed uncontrollably for a few moments, watching as the main man in black removed his mask to show his true face:

Daniel Shaw. Bryce could recognize his face from the pictures Casey had shown him.

The man smirked down at him in a triumphant way before Bryce's conscious retreated him.

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Bryce coughed, then coughed again, and again. Quickly, what started out as a sputter quickly turned into a fit of hacking. The young man found himself on his hands and knees trying to maintain his composure against the onslaught of fire in his lungs. Finally, with tears welled up in his eyes, he sat back, breathing heavily through his nose. When he opened his eyes again, wiping them of their leaking, he saw he was sitting on the floor of a very neatly-decorated bedroom.

The room had a bed in the corner of the room with linen red covers on it. There was a plain white oak dresser and desk positioned against either wall. On the north side were a few shelves stacked with miscellaneous books and the south side had a window with heavy curtains framing it, the curtains matching the same color of the linens on the bed.

Bryce tried hard to remember how he would have ended up in a place he didn't recognize this time. Usually, this meant that something had gone wrong with the mission and Bryce was working very hard to remember how that happened. Unfortunately, the fever from yesterday seemed to have only gotten worse, and wow, was it ever a bad time to choose to be sick!

Bryce moaned quietly to himself, Sarah and Casey would never let him on a mission in this state!

Wait.

Sarah and Casey. Chuck. That's right… Chuck was with him when those men burst in and hauled him off. Or at least, closeby. Bryce could only vaguely remember if Chuck had been safe throughout the ordeal. Either way, the fact that he was in an unfamiliar room, his chest buzzing from the drugs they released, were a clear sign that Bryce was still captive by Daniel Shaw.

Without having to think another thought, Bryce jumped up from his position on the floor and walked directly towards the window, testing to see if it was a viable escape route. Damn. Locked.

Bryce lifted his face towards the ceiling to see if there were any air ducts or lighting units in the room he could use to his advantage. It was clean. Bryce sat tiredly on the bed, starting to see the allure in putting a hostage in such a room. It was practically foolproof.

Except, of course, the obvious escape route… Bryce snuck quietly over to the white-washed door, leaning his ear against it to identify any noises. All seemed eerily quiet, a signal that never bode well in Bryce's mind. Hurriedly, he searched his pockets for something to help him pick the lock, and, with a satisfactory smirk, pulled out a paperclip.

Bryce immediately set to work in cracking the door open. It took several minutes, but soon, the blue-eyed boy heard the triumphant "click" that granted his freedom. Sadly, when the door was finally opened, Bryce turned his head to look up at the looming figure of none other but Daniel Shaw.

The fair-skinned, raven-haired man was smirking down at him in a way that clearly deserved to be punched into submission, at least that's what Bryce thought as he was steered back into the room by the tall and handsome criminal/ ex-agent.

"Wow, it looks like our young Intersect has quite the saavy with locks. We'll have to be careful with that," Shaw said, guiding Bryce backwards with his steps toward him and pushing him lightly to sit on the bed.

Bryce was suddenly hit with a bolt of revelation at Shaw's words: They thought he was the Intersect! That's why he was kidnapped, that's why he was being held captive, and that's why Shaw wasn't readily beating his brains out for trying to escape. Because Shaw thought he was Chuck…

In all truth, this was a much better arrangement than having Chuck kidnapped (sorry to say, but the boy was a bit of a spaz), but it was probably still ill-advised to be going around, making people think you were the CIA/NSA's top threat.

"Hello, Chuck, I don't think I had the opportunity to introduce myself properly. I'm Daniel Shaw." Bryce gritted his teeth, working hard not to hurt the man that had every intention of manipulating his best friend. One thing Bryce knew at that moment, he'd make him pay.

XxxxXXXxxxX

Sarah and Casey were still scouting around the house, determining the best places to position security cameras in view of the Bartowski-Whitcomb household. Casey had climbed to the top of a tall metal ladder with his trusty binoculars in hand while Sarah held it steady while simultaneously checking parts of the surveillance protocol off the clipboard checklist.

"We have to find a good time to set up audio bugs in the house. How soon do you think we can set up another dinner with the Whitcombs?" Sarah enquired of her male partner.

Casey lowered the binoculars to look down at her, a slight scowl on his face. "We won't have to wait very long…" Sarah turned in the direction Casey had been watching through his binoculars to see the fear-stricken Chuck bolting straight for them.

Sarah's eyes squinted in confusion at the young man's hastiness, but both agents still remained at full attention when Chuck stopped in front of them, struggling to catch his breath.

"Chuck, what's wrong?" Sarah asked the shaggy brown-haired teen who had always given off weird vibes to her in the past.

Casey inspected the area surrounding Chuck, expecting to see the other teen. "Where's Bryce?"

Chuck finally managed to breathe normally and straightened from his position against his knees. "Oh my God, you won't believe it. These-these men- They just came in with the smoke and the window breaking-Bryce tried to get away-"

Almost everything that was coming out of Chuck's mouth were two things: First, totally unintelligible (which didn't qualm Casey's patience much) and second, highly alarming to both agents listening. Casey climbed the rest of the way down from the ladder to grab hold of the frazzled boys chin, squeezing Chuck's lips into an awkward pucker.

"Look here, Bartowski, we're down with the whole protectin' you thing, but if you don't give us a single coherent thought out of this mouth, there won't be nothing protectin' you from me." Chuck's lips shut quickly at Casey's venomous words.

"Casey," Sarah cut in, forcefully removing the bulky man's grasp from the boy's mouth. Chuck rubbed his chin, eyeing the tall man with extreme fright. Sarah turned to Chuck, staring at him the same way a zookeeper might approach a scared animal. "Why don't you slow down and start again? What's happened to Bryce, Chuck?"

"They took him." Chuck all but blurted out.

Casey and Sarah looked at each other with wide-eyed looks. That was definitely not what they expected to hear. Casey was the first to break eye contact and press for more answers. "Who took him, Chuck?"

"I don't know. But I heard them say something about the Intersect."

Now, Chuck didn't know much about the Intersect, but it was clear as day what the other two agents were thinking. And it only lead the Bartowski boy to one conclusion: not good.

XxxxXXXxxxX

**A/N:** Things are getting pretty juicy. I'm getting to the part of story where I actually have to write the chapters as I update because I ran out of material. To help me through tireless nights of fanfic writing, drop a review. They make it so much more worth it!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Sorry for the wait, peeps! Uni is ripping me a new one at the moment. Thank you for all your kind words and reviews/ Keep 'em coming!

XxxxXXXxxxX

Bryce wasn't sure what was going on, but being lead down a dark and ominous hallway that probably didn't belong in your standard suburban home wasn't on the top of his "Totally Harmless" list. Not to mention, Bryce was in the company of one of the CIA's top ex-operatives that had a knack for getting exactly what he wanted and two beefy guys trailing behind him with what looked to be sidearms in their belts.

Shaw stopped in front of a metal door and typed in a code on the electronic keypad which gave an agreeable beep before unlocking the barrier in front of them. Before being led in, Bryce watched as Shaw gave the go ahead for the cronies to take a break from intimidation duty. "We should only be a couple of hours."

Bryce gulped. What exactly were they planning on doing to him in that much time? Not having much of a choice, the young man followed Shaw's heedings to step forward into the center of a very elaborate operation.

The place was cluttered with miscellaneous machines and computers, while a noticeably huge LCD screen protruded from the top of the east wall, displaying statistics and other odd diagrams. Bryce also observed the three rooms that connected to the one he and Shaw were standing in. One of them was very dark with what seemed to be a dentist chair in the middle of it, the second room was totally blacked out, and the third one was an exam room of sorts, with its very own doctor writing stuff down on a clipboard.

To Bryce's dismay, that was precisely the room Shaw was pushing him towards. "C'mon, Chuck, let's get you checked out."

Knowing doing any fighting would cause him greater turmoil, Bryce allowed himself to be guided into the sterile and bright exam room. The blue-eyed boy was unsure how much longer he'd be able to play the innocent and frightened civillian. When the both of them entered, the frazzle-haired, elderly man in the white coat peered at them over his tiny spectacles. He nodded in Shaw's direction and began looking at Bryce in a very inquistive way.

"So this is the boy? He seems shorter than I pictured. How do you know this is the right kid?" the doctor asked, and Bryce chose to blatantly ignore his comment regarding his height. Bryce refused to acknowledge he was short… Because he wasn't.

Shaw was flipping through another clipboard with some results on it while he replied, "Well, we weren't able to get our hands on the picture of the kid because the CIA had all of the documents on lockdown, but we knew he lived at that address from the test results the agents next door performed."

"Agents? You did the capture right under their nose?" the doctor asked.

Shaw smiled as if to say "Yeah, I'm that good."

Bryce resisted the urge to cringe at the man's sarcastic mug. Instead of replying though, Shaw handed him a long piece of cloth that, after unfolding it, Bryce found it to be a patterned hospital gown. He looked up at the man who was staring at him expectantly.

"You can change in there," Shaw said in a no-nonsense way, pointing to a small, private bathroom connected to the exam room (Bryce was beginning to think this place was a lot bigger than it let on).

"No fucking way," Bryce replied indignantly, his voice a bit scratchy from lack of use. Sure he would allow the fiercely built man to push him around a little but no way was he going to let these pervs check him over with nothing on but a hospital gown!

"Chuck. Either you put it on or I get Claude in here to put it on for you…" The threat made Bryce blanch a little, but he still stood his ground, even so much as smirking up at the man.

"I'd like to see him try…" Bryce said, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"We can still to the exam if he takes off his shirt. Theres no need for him to get more undressed." The elderly doctor said adjusting his spectacled nervously, he obviously didn't want to see a conflict take place in his office.

"Fine," Bryce said after Shaw gave him a very deliberate stare down, daring him to refuse. The young man slipped his arms through the sleeves of his green polo, pulling the rest of it over his head. He looked at the doctor who had given a very audible gasp.

"What did you do to him?" the older man said, staring critically at Shaw after taking in the huge amounts of bruises on the boy's torso.

Shaw seemed perplexed by the amount of damage done to Bryce too, though he didn't seem to show it much. "Nothing. He was probably in a fight at school. Who cares."

The doctor sighed and simple patted the exam table in signal for Bryce to hop on. Bryce did so, precariously, so as not to jostle his already smarting stomach.

The physician performed most of the basic procedures, emitting the usual "hms" and disproving "mms" when needed.

Once Bryce's shirt was lifted, exposing his taut stomach to the chill of the sterile exam room, he shuddered as the air hit his fevered skin. The doctor pressed his ice-cold stethoscope to Bryce's chest, causing the boy to emit an audible gasp. "Can you breathe in for me?"

Bryce obeyed, barely able to stifle a few coughs at the discomfort it caused him.

After that was thankfully done, Bryce was allowed to right his shirt back whilst the doctor marked off a few observations on his clipboard." Hm, seems the boy here is a bit under the weather. His lungs don't sound good either."

This caught Shaw's attention, who was originally just idly clicking through his iPhone. He stared intensely at the shorter clinician as if he wanted to burn holes through the man with simply his vision.

"What do you mean? Not too sick for us to run the Intersect program, right?"

Bryce tried not to fall off the exam table at the words. His mouth just falls open as he stares in shock at the man. They were going to put the rest of the Intersect in him? Perhaps making them think he was Chuck wasn't the best idea. For one, if he were to undergo the Intersect testing, he'd surely die from a brain hemmorage. Yep, this was definitely not his brightest plan.

"That's precisely what I'm saying, Shaw. He'd die 5 minutes in." the doctor answered, much to Shaw's chagrin but Bryce's immense relief.

Bryce could tell Shaw was working hard not to be spitting furious, but awkwardly failed as he spoke again, "But-but you _told_ me that once we had the kid, his brain capacity would be enough to contain all the Intersect!"

The doctor shooke his head, "Not in this condition though. If you want to the assignment right, the boy has to be healthy."

Shaw walked closer to the exam table Bryce was sitting on. The boy tried hard not to flinch when the man laid both of his hands against the table to the right of him, his face set in a calculating, far-away look. "What other options do we have? Stuff him full of chicken-soup until he's well enough."

"There is one option." The doctor replied, making Bryce want to strangle the man. The young agent finally thought he was going to catch a break with this whole kidnapping thing. Maybe Shaw would've been willing to drop him off at the nearest skatepark and forget any of this happened, but noo. Damn doctor. "If I prescribe him a very strong antibiotic, it may be able to fight off the effects of the illness until you're done with the testing. I'll write up the script now."

"Great," Shaw replied, glad something was finally working in his favor. "I'll take Bryce down to the pharmacist, you ready the testing area until we get back. And hurry. We're on a tight schedule."

The doctor nodded, already ripping a scrap of paper off the prescription pad. "I'll call it in right now. See you in 0100 hours."

Shaw nodded and watched the doctor leave the office. Once gone, Shaw turned to Bryce with a small smirk tugging at his lips and a glint of condescension in his completely black eyes. "Wanna take a trip, buddy?"

No, Bryce thought, Shaw was the last crazy person he felt like going to Walgreens with.

XxxxXXXxxxX

A/N: Sorry this is kinda short. I swore I wrote more… I really just wanted to update this so my last update date didn't seem so far away. Writers, you feel me on this.


	10. Chapter End

**A/N:** Okay, this chapter is hella long, but was pretty fun to write. Thanks to Artistic Juices/Toolz for sending me a good kick in the pants! If you enjoy this last chapter, please drop a review. You never know what may happen… :O

XxxxXXXxxxX

The Walgreens looked like any other. It was about two stories high with the familiar red-lettering scripted over the top of it. Bryce had observed the building and the area surrounding it with a piqued interest, trying to figure out where they were so he could work on a better escape route. Shaw's nondescript black luxury car turned the corner of an intersection and Bryce zoned in on the cross streets.

59th Avenue and Orangeway.

Bryce vaguely remembered passing it when he and Sarah took a drive to go mountain hiking. The young man suppressed the feelings of sadness and nostalgia at the memory. Sarah and Casey were now miles away and Bryce was struggling to conjure up a way to get to them.

Sarah left an appreciable heavier weight of longing in Bryce. Not in a romantic way, though admittedly she was drop-dead gorgeous, but in an odd nurturing manner. The young man supposed it stemmed from the many previous occasions Sarah had been there to offer him comfort or a protective defense when Casey got too ornery, which was less and less often but still an expected occurrence.

Perhaps Bryce was going soft, wanting a mommy-figure in his life to scare away all the horrors, but even if that were the case, Bryce could really care less. It was a nice change, one that Bryce would willingly snap up in a seconds' time.

Still, Sarah wasn't there in the stuffy, leather-interior sedan with the tall, onyx-eyed man that was currently calculating his next sinister move. Bryce was alone in this dire situation so he knew his options were clear: get going or die trying.

Unfortunately, neither choice was particularly appealing to the boy, not to mention, Bryce was beside himself in figuring out what "get going" should entail.

Bryce groaned internally at the briefness of their pharmacy trip, the car already pulling into the drugstore's parking lot. Yes, he would be glad to end sharing oxygen in the little car with Shaw, who continually cast him steely glances that made him fidget a bit, but it also cut his plotting time in half. The blue-eyed teen could only pray that he would find something of use in the chain corner store.

As Shaw pulled the car expertly into the space directly in front, Bryce unbuckled his seatbelt and pulled the handle to leave the vehicle, only it wouldn't budge. Bryce tugged on it futilely a couple more times and watched with angered eyes as Shaw stepped around the front of the car to open the door for him. Bryce climes out of the passenger seat, glaring all the while at the tall, older man who evenly returned his gaze. Without Shaw noticing, Bryce switched the child lock off with a flick of his finer and closed the door.

When he turned to follow Shaw in, partially satisfied with being able to pull a fast one on the senior agent, he halted at the sight of Shaw holding a hand out to him. Bryce just stood there, quirking an eyebrow at the invitation.

"Hold my hand," Shaw said, offering explanation to the bewildered boy. Bryce's mouth just fell open at the statement.

"What? Hell no!" It was as if the whole car trip weren't awkward enough, now this lunatic wanted Bryce to touch him!

Shaw stared at the gloomy and gray sky overhead, his eyes twitching with irritation. Bryce watched him carefully and was a bit taken aback when the man suddenly snatched up his hand into his, pulling him close. Shaw leaned down to put his mouth at Bryce's ear level.

"If you make this any harder than it needs to be, I can promise you, I can make it so much worse." Bryce couldn't help the chill that ran up his spine. The man's hot breath was so close to the exposed part of his neck. It felt like Shaw was going to bite into him as if he were some blood-sucking vampire. Clearly, the boy's imagination was just getting ahead of him as the older man simply stood back up and began pulling him along into the drug store with a painfully firm grip on his hand.

As he tried to keep up with Shaw's long strides, Bryce's eye surreptitiously glanced in every which direction, hungry for some sort of object or door to assist him in his escape. It was going to be difficult, Bryce realized with a heavy heart, to do anything with the tall agent latched onto him like this.

As they passed nearly five aisles, Shaw finally steered them down the sixth one which lead straight to the crook of the store, housing the pharmacy desk. The pharmacy had a long solid blue counter with glass windows just above it. Through the center glass panel, one could see some pharmacy techs bustling about with bags and orange pill bottles full of prescription drugs.

An attractive, green-eyed woman with a pointed features and a petite frame, wearing a white lab coat over an emerald top that matched her eyes, stared at the two of them as they approached with a toothy smile, asking, "Can I help you?" when they finally arrived at the counter.

To Bryce's utter relief, Shaw released his chokehold on his hand to retrieve his brown, leather wallet from the seat of his pant pocket. As Shaw searched for the false prescription, Bryce flexed his aching fingers, but resisted the urge to massage his hands under the unusual scrutiny of the pretty lady waiting on the agent.

She seemed a bit surprised to have been spotted analyzing the two of them by Bryce's quizzical eye and blushed momentarily before explaining. "Sorry, it's just that you two look so much alike. He really takes after you." She nodded approvingly at Bryce to Shaw, who smirked a little at the statement (and his good fortune).

Bryce forced his own smile as Shaw slapped him heartily on the back. "Well, he has his mother's eyes." Shaw told the woman, and Bryce inwardly cringed at the truth of the fallacious statement.

Bryce could tell that Shaw was becoming a tad distracted by the flirtatious lady and the prescription filling so Bryce knew this was about his only opportunity to actually make some progress in his escape. He spotted the perfect area through the window of the pharmacy waiting area.

"Dad," Bryce said and it took about three seconds for Shaw to belatedly turn to him. "I'm going to use the restroom real fast. I drank too much soda at the movie, you know."

Shaw instantly became suspicious, as was common for most of the senior field agents, Bryce was aware. He could only hope that he didn't wind up with the same paranoid tendencies when he made it to Shaw's rank. At least he could say that he tried…

"Oh! Let me buzz you in, honey," the female pharmacist said with a nod to the bathroom door in the window.

Bryce hadn't been aware that the women would need to buzz him in, but it seemed to quell most of Shaw's objections to him running off somewhere alone. Therefore, the fair-skinned man gave a small nod to Bryce's unheard request with a glint in his eyes that promised Bryce he would be carefully watched.

As Bryce suspected, when he rounded the corner to the bathroom, there was a payphone directly in the middle of the women and men's restrooms. He tried to hide his smile and any indication that he had even found something for fear that Shaw really was watching him as vigilantly as his eyes warned. For once, Bryce had found someone as agonizingly intrusive as Casey. Sad day, indeed.

Feigning that he was going into the restroom, Bryce felt like he was pulling one of those "fake escalator" tricks as he crouched down just beneath the window and out of sight to Shaw's eyes. He let the chipped metal door to the bathroom close first, and began crawling down the hallway, only standing again once he was far enough away from the window to the waiting room. Bryce knew he had to act fast so he turned and quickly began unbuckling the tracking device/timepiece on his wrist to read the activation code engraved into the back of it.

The tracking watch had been fried because of whatever electricity field was in the facility Shaw had taken him to, but he could at least get it to blip on Casey and Sarah's radar by calling it in on the payphone. Bryce picked up the sticky black receiver and placed it to his ear as his fingers made fast work of typing Casey's GPS number and then his tracking cipher.

With a sigh of relief, Bryce heard the affirmative beep, signaling that the location was detected on Casey's device. For once, something had gone right. Bryce immediately hung up with a thankful exhale and fished in his pockets for two quarters so he could dial Casey and Sarah personally to brief them on the situation. Just as he placed the quarters in and was about to press the first number to Sarah's cell, a smooth, deep voice startled him out of his potential call.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Bryce froze completely then turned his head to see the anger building on Shaw's tight-lipped expression. Shaw's hooded eyed took in the sight of the teen about to dial a number with the phone to his ear with a critical eye, while Bryce just stood there, feeling like a deer in the headlights.

"I-uh," Bryce tried weakly, his blue eyes round with dread. Nothing! What was he supposed to do? Lie? It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what Bryce was doing and why, but the look on the tall man's face made Bryce almost tremble with fear. They were the eyes of a seriously deranged person and it turned out this particular murderous lunatic was severely pissed off with _him_. Bryce gulped, his throat dry and his palm sweaty against the smooth, hard telephone handle.

Shaw took two steps closer and took the receiver from Bryce's hand before hanging it up on the silver payphone with a resounding "clank!" He looked down at Bryce with an intense glare, wordlessly snatching up the younger man's wrist in an even more painful and pinching grip than before. Bryce could only hurry after the man as he was dragged with such fervor down the aisles of the drug store it felt like he was in some ridiculous relay race with the man.

"I warned you what would happen if you made things difficult…" Shaw muttered, loud enough for Bryce to hear. The young man felt his heart quicken in speed as he was all but thrown into the passenger side of the balck sedan, slamming his hip painfully into the center console.

Something really bad was about to happen. The much was clear. Bryce only hoped Sarah and Casey would get his message before it was all too late.

XxxxXXXxxxX

Chuck was aghast. Surrounding him was a full blown set up of screens, control panels, and super high-tech equipment. If he weren't currently in a very dire situation, the young teen might've dared let, "I'm in heaven" escape from his gaping lips. How could Bryce have been holding out on him like this?

Sure, when Bryce had finally revealed to him that he was a secret agent, the thought that he did have some super secret spy base did pop into his head, but not to this extent. This setup was _sweet_. Beyond sweet. He just didn't understand how Bryce could have kept his mouth shut when watching the James Bond flick without saying, "Yeah, I got one of those at home."

If they made it out of this thing unscathed and Bryce continued to be Chuck's friend despite the drawbacks his status as "Intersect" caused, they were totally hanging out in here. Like, all the time.

The thought of Bryce still in the clutches of whatever black-wearing baddies had crashed through his windows made Chuck shudder in fright. What could they be doing to him? Why would they take him and not Chuck? Nothing was making sense and all Chuck desperately wanted was answers!

Unfortunately, the only thing that Sarah and Casey were concerned with was chaotically running about the secret base with deep panic in their eyes. He was surprised to find the two usually stoic and even-headed agents being in such a tizzy over the sudden kidnapping of their youngest team member. Perhaps there was a different dynamic going on than the one Bryce described to him. Chuck wasn't sure he understood anything with these secret agent types…

A sudden blipping noise sounded quietly on the screen closest to Chuck's thigh. He looked down at it and leant in, blinking at the dot on what looked to be a digital map of Burbank.

"Hey, hey, guys. I think-" Chuck started but was immediately pushed aside by Casey, landing harshly on his butt in the office rolling chair, which moved farther right with his added weight.

"It's Larkin's tracker. He's activated its signal with the communication wires." Casey announced, squinting at the green dot symbolizing Bryce's location.

Sarah rushed over, forcing Chuck to roll his chair farther to the right to get out of her way. She tucked her hair behind her ear to better read the screen's map.

"Looks like downtown, near the base of the mountain we hiked at," Sarah said, seeming wistful as she unnecessarily added on the last part.

Casey stared at her evenly; aware Sarah was getting slightly misty-eyed at the memory of her and the boy they had become abnormally attached to. Chuck watched the non-verbal exchange with an odd look, one that clearly said, "I've entered some weird Twilight zone, right?"

"We'll find him , Sarah," Casey told her softly.

"I know, it's just Shaw. He's-"

"We'll get him." Casey interjected. "We've still got time." The burly agent assured her, this time with a nod for comfort's sake. Sarah allowed herself to lift the corner of her mouth at the attempt to qualm her fears. She really hoped Casey was right, and that they weren't already too late.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's kick this mission into gear!" Chuck said, interrupting the "moment" with his usual awkward enthusiasm. The two agents looked at the gangly boy as if he had just appeared out of this air.

"You're staying in the car," Sarah and Casey said in unison deadpan.

XxxxXXXxxxX

Bryce's head stayed plastered against the headrest of the leather seat of Shaw's car. The squared-jawed, ivory skinned agent was currently tearing through the streets back to the hideout that would eventually lead to Bryce's demise. The young man could only wonder how the cops hadn't pulled him over, but then he figured Shaw must have made some sort of deal with the police, who seemed to totally ignore the fact that a car was going ninety in a 35mph zone.

Damn, Shaw acquiring a petty felony was one of Bryce's last ditch efforts to get out of the man's grasp. So much for the reliable justice system.

There still was one more option. And Bryce became on the verge of doing it as Shaw pulled into the driveway of the expansive house in the trendy suburban neighborhood. The vehicle came to a halt as it rolled its way up to the house, and Bryce grasped the cold handle of the car, waiting for Shaw to turn his attention away from him momentarily.

His chance came just as Shaw was getting out to open his passenger-side door. Bryce threw open the door which he had stealthily unlocked and launched himself from the vehicle, breaking into a fierce sprint.

His heart was beating hard as he dashed diagonally toward the corner of the street, across the spread of grass in the front yard. It certainly came as a shock to him to spot, out of nowhere, a tall, buff man in a gardener's getup blocking his path. Bryce tried fruitlessly to brake or avoid the man in front of him, but that just made Shaw seizing him from behind that much easier.

Shaw picked him up with both arms wrapped around Bryce's chest, causing Bryce to thrash and yell out a string of curse words to the older man. Of course, Shaw ignored these as he threw Bryce unceremoniously over his shoulder, eliciting a grunt from the young agent, who continued to struggle despite the strong hold on his legs.

Bryce settled with pounding on the back of Shaw's fitted, black-knit sweater in hopes that it would draw the attention of any neighbors in the area. He stopped though when he heard the man laugh deeply at his efforts.

"There's nobody here, Chuck. Do you think I'm stupid enough to have this little operation go down in a populated neighborhood?" Bryce dearly wanted to answer "Yes, sincerely." To the inquiry about Shaw being stupid, but didn't think it smart considering his unsteady position. Resigned to his fate, Bryce could only hang limply over Shaw's shoulder, his heart beating wildly with the anticipation of the event to come.

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

All of the training he had garnered had either dripped out of the side of his head from the numerous poundings he was forced to endure or he really was what everyone was consistently trying to convince him of: too young for the spy business. Bryce almost wanted to cry once faced with the very real and harsh understanding of his "kid status," but he figured that would only help to solidify the label then subdue it.

As they entered the familiar chilly room full of computers and wires running wildly from the screens in front of the dentist's chair, Bryce couldn't help the quiver that coursed through his body. He didn't care if Shaw felt it through his muscled shoulder, which was dug uncomfortable into Bryce's gut; Bryce was scared. Scared of the prospect of letting the download fry his brain and becoming a useless vegetable. But scared most of all of dying and never getting a chance to experience what it was to be a normal person.

There was still so much he wanted, no, _needed_ to do. Was this really the end…?

Shaw dropped him brusquely into the chair, which still caused Bryce to wince despite the padding on the seat. He watched with wide, careful eyes as Shaw instructed the doctor and techs to get the Intersect warmed up.

"What about his illness? Did you get the medicine?" The doctor asked.

"Well, I'd think by his burst of energy just now, our little Intersect was feeling better," with an air of distate, he eyed Bryce, who sunk a bit into the chair at the veiled accusation. "But yeah, here, get it in him and get started. We don't have much time."

The good doctor nodded, adjusting his glasses to examine the white bag full of prescription drugs to ensure Shaw had retrieved the correct ones. Bryce observed the doctor handing the meds off to one of the burly guards who thus began approaching him with two pills in hand. The teen would have none of the medicine though, not if it was the only thing separating him from death by Intersect and life, but it didn't really matter what he wanted in the end. The guard simply forced the pills past Bryce's lips and tightly plugged his nose with his thumb and forefinger until Bryce choked them down with several hacking coughs.

"We're all set, Shaw," the doctor told the tall, handsome agent, who had been watching the strapping of the young man into the chair with a grave expression.

"Engage," Shaw ordered from his position behind the glass barrier. The tech nodded and flipped open the glass covering of a large red button, which he pressed with uncertainty.

Through the glass, the dimly-lit room sprang to life with the brightening of all twenty screens positioned in a perfect square in front of Bryce. Within ten seconds, the men and women watched as the young man began writhing in agony, bleeding from the eyes and nose and who knows what other orifices. It was a truly horrific scene, but none more painful an experience was had than for Bryce, whose blue eyes filled with large tears of torment that leaked quickly down his cheeks. Terrified screams ripped through the air.

Finally, as quickly as it started, the lights and sounds of the machines vanished. The raspy, deafening scream from Bryce even died down after a couple of moments, replaced only with fast-paced breathing and involuntary whimpers.

Everything was silent now, save for the abrupt slamming on the countertop from Shaw's place that caused the doctor, techs, and even the guards to jump in surprise. The usually calm agent released a low growl before snarling at the closet tech, "What the _fuck_ is going on?"

The frightened technician barely had a chance to stutter out a pitiful excuse before the doors of the base opened, flooding in light from the outside followed by a team of heavily armed men in full tactical gear.

Shaw squinted in the harsh light being shown in his face as he was being thrust against the dashboard of buttons that had evidently had their power cut. The rude flashlight owner revealed himself to be none other than John Casey, who couldn't help the smug smirk from overtaking his face at Shaw's enraged but composed expression. The two had a staring match that made it plain there was history between them.

"What's with the full-man team, Major?" Shaw inquired, trying to mask his frustration over his foiled plan with a jab to his former comrade. "There are other ways to take down evil masterminds, you know."

"Well, it just so happens that this evil mastermind chose the wrong teenage punk to kidnap." Suddenly, the smirk on Casey's face disappeared, swapped for a severe and intimidating scowl, as he leant in closer to Shaw's ear. "And if I find out that there's something wrong with him, I will see to it that you get my own personal brand of torture in an NSA holding facility."

Shaw didn't look fazed in the least, but Casey told himself that he saw that slightest twitch of fear in the trained agent's left eyebrow. Satisfied with himself, Casey straightened himself out and slapped the soldier restraining Shaw on the back. The black haired man allowed himself to be steered in the direction of the exit, but not before leaving with a few last, grievous words:

"There'll be more coming for him."

Casey held Shaw in a steady gaze and waited for him to be lead out before he turned his face to the ground. As much as he hated to admit, Shaw was right. The Intersect would never be safe now, especially with the bits of information Shaw may have let loose from his operation. In that moment, the degree of importance for Chuck's safety was hitting him with full force. It was no wonder Bryce has been trying so hard to hide Chuck from them in the first place.

Speaking of which…

"Hey, what's with the face, man? You just saved Bryce!" Chuck's voice broke into Casey's serious meditation. He turned his head slightly to look at the teen, sneering at him with a small growl.

"Thought we told you to stay in the car," Casey told Chuck, now pointing his flashlight rudely at the young geek's face. He was starting to like this thing.

"Eh, figured the coast was clear when I saw the tall guy being escorted out." Chuck shrugged nonchalantly as if he hadn't just been pissing his pants at the very sight of the man. "Where's Bryce?"

Casey finally realized that the subject of their operation was still yet to be seen. His eyes roved over their surroundings until he saw the familiar flash of Sarah's blonde hair inside a dimly lit room behind a wall of glass. Bryce's form was shadowed but clearly outlined in the padded doctor's chair. As Casey and Chuck made their way over, it was obvious the kid had been through hell and back by his bruised and bleeding appearance.

Chuck looked queasy as he took in the battered sight of his friend. The thought that Bryce was probably only in this position because of him finally had him getting sick in the nearest trash can.

Sarah and Casey ignored the retching noises from the tall, clumsy teen, only focused on the shaggy-haired young agent before them. Sarah was raking her manicured nails through Bryce's bangs, smoothing them out of the way in an attempt to rouse the kid but nothing was working.

"He's alive, right?" Casey inquired, still all business despite the cold pick of worry that was lodged in his gut.

Sarah nodded, but her face crumbled a little at the thought of the boy actually being dead, mainly because he was seriously looking like it at that point. Without another thought, Casey wrapped the lean, blonde woman in his arms, and Sarah accepted it by throwing her face into the crook of Casey's muscled neck and producing the tell-tale sounds of sobbing and heartfelt weeping.

The paramedics came in shortly after that, loading the unconscious, lanky boy deftly into a stretcher as Casey and Sarah watched helplessly on like dumbstruck parents instead of the highly-skilled agents that everyone knew them to be.

The three people followed the ambulance all the way to the hospital in wordless anticipation, not daring to speak even after two hours of waiting in the ER's sitting area. Ellie and Devon arrived just as Sarah was getting seriously impatient with the hospital staff and were able to get the information the concerned "parents" needed on Bryce.

"He's suffered a minor brain hemorrhage," Devon told them, flipping through the "Authorized Personnel Only" chart with a furrowed brow. "Which would be serious in many cases, but because of Bryce's young age, he should recover from it fairly quickly."

"He does have a case of the flu, as I'm sure you're aware due to the drugs that were administered," Ellie chimed in after peaking over at the chart her husband had on hand. "So this may affect the recovery from the hemorrhage, but it's unlikely."

Casey and Sarah nodded, letting the relief wash over them for the first time in hours. Bryce was safe and going to survive. Although they honestly never thought they could feel this much happiness from knowing their youngest team member would be safe, it was a feeling that they would gladly accept over anything else.

XxxxXXXxxxX

If those pills were supposed to make him feel better, they weren't really doing the job, Bryce decided with a small moan. Then again, the way they were shoved down his throat probably wasn't part of the directions listed on the bottle. Bryce's head was pounding as he made to sit up in his full-sized bed in the agent's large, Columbian home/secret base.

Five minutes passed, and the boy listened for the recognizable sounds of Casey making his way up to his room to check on him. It was almost creepy how acute the older agent's hearing could be. Bryce's bed probably only made two squeaks as he had struggled to sit up in it and still the man knew it was him rising from his sleep.

Bryce was at least greeted by not only Casey this time but also Sarah. It had been about two days since he was released from the hospital, making it three days since he had undergone the terrible Intersect treatment in the chair at Shaw's secret base. Once he woke up from the sedation, Bryce had been truly elated to be alive and to be surrounded by the two people who had come to be the closest thing to family in his life. But, as much as he enjoyed having the two with him in his time of recovery, Casey's more brutish and strict tendencies were, as usual, starting to rub Bryce in all the wrong ways.

"Hey, hey, what did I say about touching your dressing?" Casey reprimanded, lightly, because he was working on it. Bryce paused his scratching of the wrapping of gauze around his head. The device that Shaw had him connected to had begun to burn his skin. Bryce was told he was actually quite fortunate that the stinging first degree burn was all that the machine had left behind. The young man still couldn't suppress the eye roll and aggravated scoff as he dropped his hand down from his head to his lap.

"How are you feeling?" Sarah asked, trying to hide her smile at Bryce's dramatic reaction to Casey. She could easily sense Bryce's irritation for Casey was at its boiling point, but couldn't help watching it unfold rather than intervene.

"Better… _Really_," Bryce emphasized, trying to stress to the two agents that he was well enough to get out of bed. Casey would have none of that though as he pressed his hand to Bryce's cheek, which was flushed with the remnants of fever.

Casey was about to jeer at the notion that Bryce was better, maybe even pepper it with a haughty remark that Bryce would have to spend another week in bed, but Sarah none-too-gently dug her elbow into her partner's rib. Casey looked at her incredulously but understood by her narrowed eyes what she was getting at. He sighed, forced to keep his comments to himself.

"Well, I'll bring you up some soup in a bit. But first…" Sarah began with an impish smile. She pulled out the slim MacBook from behind her back, delight playing on her face. "Somebody wants to talk to you."

Bryce had no clue what Sarah was so giddy about; hell, even Casey looked a little pleased. After positioning the laptop on a pillow in front of Bryce, Sarah and Casey sat on either side of Bryce on the bed before Sarah switched the screen to "on", revealing the face of none other than General Beckman herself. ("Excited" wasn't usually a term Bryce would use to describe his meetings with the General, but he would wait a moment before making any judgments this time).

"Agent Larkin," General Beckman greeted with her usual uniformed self, disproving frown and brow resolutely set on her face. "You don't look well. Have they been taking care of you?"

Bryce resisted the urge to make a face. He hated it when people worried after him, and definitely didn't like the idea of needing to be "taken care of." He cleared his throat thoughtfully before speaking, "Yeah, they have. Much more than needed, I might add…"

"That's good to hear," Beckman said, ignoring the last remark. "Now, onto business, as you may not know, a very select group here at headquarters know about the Intersect you've been trying to hide from us."

A pregnant pause followed.

The young man held his breath. This was it, the moment he had been so scared would come. Bryce honestly didn't know what would happen from here though. Where was he supposed to go without the agency? The thought alone had almost sent him into a full-blown panic attack not a week ago. He kept quiet though, his breath caught in his throat as he waited for the words which would terminate his entire existence.

"We're very pleased with the actions you've taken on this mission, and have decided that we should follow suit," the General declared.

Bryce blinked, not knowing what just happened. Had he heard wrong? Surely, he had. Nothing she was saying made a lick of sense. What did she mean by "following suit"? The boy was clearly missing something here. Since when did hiding exclusive government information constitute a reward on Bryce's part? His head felt like it was spinning more than usual.

"Come again?" Was all that Bryce could gasp out under the weight of her statement.

The General didn't appear pleaseed with the casualness of the young agent's request, but decided to continue nonetheless. "We're going to take the plans that Sarah and Casey put together and set you up as the formal handlers for Operation: Intersect." Bryce's brain was slowly churning with how this was going to work. The General saw the teen's confusion and sighed before further elaborating, "You're going to keep your covers as the family next door and keep protective measures on the Bartowski boy."

Bryce felt his icy blue eyes bug out of his head. "Really? We-we get to stay here, in Burbank? For how long?"

The General rubbed her temple, growing tired of the boy's constant confusion. "I'm not sure, Agent Larkin. Let's just cross that bridge when we come to it. At this moment in time, you are son to Agents Walker and Casey. _That _is all that should concern you."

Without even a final farewell, the screen went black, signaling her logging off.

Bryce could only stare in shock at the screen. What had just happened? Was he just handed the opportunity to be a part of this quirky, little family? He looked up at Sarah, who was smiling at him with an air of hesitation.

"Aren't you happy, Bryce?" she said, her smile becoming crestfallen.

"I-I," Then his slow, fevered mind let it click, and it was like all the endorphins from his brain were released into his body because he could confidently say that he had never been this happy in his entire life. This was his chance to be normal, to experience the world, to feel what it was like to have an actual family. He turned to Sarah with a brightened beam. "I'm ecstatic. Are you kidding?"

She returned the 1000-watt grin and warmly embraced the already radiating boy. She released him after a few minutes and sniffed from the tears that had managed to escape. Apparently, this was also a big opportunity for Sarah and Casey just as much as it was for him.

"Wow, you're really burning up." Sarah said with a small laugh, wiping a tear away from Bryce cheek with her thumb. The teen hadn't even recalled when he started crying; he felt too happy to be able to cry.

"I'll go get a bath started," Casey said rising. He spoke again just before Bryce could object. "It'll bring the fever down; so you're taking one."

Bryce couldn't even bring himself to argue with the older man now. Casey's actions showed a deeper care for him than he had ever experienced with any male role models. Even if Casey would never out and out say it, Bryce could tell that the man had grown a soft side for him, manifested in his constant nagging and overindulgence. Suddenly Casey's constant mother-hen activities became… _nice_, as opposed to freakishly overbearing, which is what Bryce considered them only minutes ago.

"I'm going to go help him," Sarah said, planting a quick peck on Bryce's warm cheek. He only flushed deeper at the unexpected display of affection, but the woman didn't seem to notice as she called after her, "Go get a change of clothes!" before exiting his quaint bedroom.

Instead of rummaging through his drawers for another pair of boxers and pajamas, Bryce uncovered his phone from his pillowcase (he had hidden it for fear that Casey would seize that, too). There was already a text from Chuck waiting for him by the time he activated the mobile. It read,

"Welcome 2 the neighborhood. Casey gave me the low-down. Good luck with that guy as ur new dad! Lol."

Bryce couldn't help the chuckle at the other boy's text. In his excitement over having the pair of agents as his parents, he hadn't even realized he would get to continue his strange, nerdy friendship with Chuck. That realization only made the smile on Bryce's face grow to an almost cheek-splitting degree. Hurriedly, before Sarah and Casey came back, wondering if he'd escaped again, he texted the other teen back,

"I'd be careful what you say since we're going to be around a while. Haha! Anyways, we're good for Call of Duty this weekend, right?"

A reply was sent back almost instantaneously,

"I thought u'd never ask! You're ON like Donkey Kong!" Chuck's text read, his personality oozing through with each word.

Bryce shook his head at his phone before tossing it to the side. Sure it wasn't your average family, but it was the fact that it was so abnormal that made Bryce love it all the more.

XxxxXXXxxxX

The End.

**A/N:** Phew! All done. I just want to thank all my faithful readers for seeing this story through. As you could tell by my first posting of this story, this was definitely not something that I thought would get good, if any, reception, but you guys proved me wrong. I love that you enjoyed my weird-ass story, and hope I can continue to meet your expectations.

Please, drop me one last feedback on the ending! It'd make my winter break! :D

Have nice days,

~Sarah


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